


History's Guardian

by sollardragon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Explicit Language, First Time, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mpreg, Mystery, Parody, Slash sex, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-18
Updated: 2008-12-30
Packaged: 2018-10-01 06:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 42,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10183148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sollardragon/pseuds/sollardragon
Summary: Harry and Draco discover their past are more similar than either realized... thanks to a little help. But at what cost? And what will Dumbledore do to keep his Weapon on track?This story has 24 chapters in total.





	1. 1. Harry's Torment

I don't own any of the characters, they belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1 - Harry's Torment

“Vernon,” Petunia murmured as she ignored Harry, who cleaned the dishes from the table, like he always did.

“Hm?” Vernon asked as he continued to watch TV as he always did after supper. Petunia opened her mouth to ask her question when they heard a crash come from the kitchen. They turned around to see Harry on his hands and knees amidst a pile of broken dishes as Dudley strutted back toward the living room. “That is _it_!” Vernon shouted angrily, his face turning purple. He stalked over to Harry and grabbed him, one hand on his arm, the other on his neck.

He marched him down to the basement and into the small room he’d built for these occasions. Harry’s heart went cold and he tried to fight going into that room, but Vernon was much bigger and much stronger. 

It wasn’t much of a contest. 

Once at the room, he shoved Harry into the small room.

Harry barely caught himself in time, nearly colliding with the back wall. He turned just in time to see his uncle shoving the key to the now locked door into his pants pocket. 

“Strip, boy,” he ordered rolling his sleeves up, watching Harry, still angry.

“It wasn’t my fault! Dud-” he began only to be backhanded back into the wall. Harry saw stars as he slid down the wall, barely registering his uncle was standing over him.

“I said strip and I want none of your back talk or lies! You hear me?” he roared, pulling Harry up by the hair. Once Harry was on his feet, Vernon let him go and stalked over to the table set in a corner of the room. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a bed, which Harry avoided looking at, and a four foot-chain set in the wall beside said bed.

Without another word, Harry began to undress, dropping his clothes in a pile by the wall. On his back, you could see scars from where Vernon had already beaten him in previous years. Some were faded, but others stood out quite clearly.

He turned to see his uncle walking towards him with a couple of sets of handcuffs. This was new. 

“Face the wall,” his uncle ordered. 

When Harry hesitated, he was shoved hard into the wall and Vernon grabbed his wrist, snapping one manacle around it. Pulling up, he snapped the other manacle tightly around his elbow, making Harry wince at the tightness. Then he did the same to the other so that his wrists were resting on the opposite arm.

Harry felt his glasses taken off and heard them break when they landed against the unforgiving cement. That’s when the first blow came. Vernon punched him in the ribs. The blow was so unexpected that Harry gasped at the pain, his legs giving way, eyes watering. 

Vernon moved away then, going back to the table. 

Harry drew in several deep breaths, trying to get the pain under control. He managed to get to his feet when he heard a strange crack behind him. He choked on a scream as pain bloomed along his back and realized his uncle was using a small whip on him instead of his belt.

“How do you like your new surprise, boy?” Vernon asked, letting the small whip fly again, this time catching Harry from left upper leg, across his stomach . Harry gasped, back arching in pain.

Afterwards, Harry couldn’t have said how many times he was struck with the whip, only that he was struck. By the time Vernon got too tired to whip him, Harry was on his knees, sobbing and shaking, his skin marred by deep welts and cuts.

It took him a few minutes to realize his uncle had stopped. He didn’t even hear his uncle walk up behind him until it was too late. He choked on a scream when Vernon kicked him in the ribs with enough force to knock him over, ruining the next kick, which hit him in the knees.

Vernon walked behind Harry to deliver a few more kicks to his ribs and back until his anger was exhausted. Already, bruises could be seen among the welts and cuts. “I’ll be back, boy,” Vernon said, dragging Harry up by his arms and throwing him on the bed, ignoring the sobs and gasps of pain. He left, taking Harry’s clothes, and didn’t bother to lock the door. Of course, Harry had nowhere to go and in his condition, he doubted Harry would even try.

* * *

A half hour later, Harry heard the door open and forced himself not to tense up. “So,” a voice murmured, making him jump in surprise. He’d assumed it was Vernon coming back for another round. But Dudley? “This is what Father does to you, huh?”

Harry felt a hand at his elbow and heard the click of the manacle coming undone. He felt his heart thud, even as blood rushed into his arms, as hope filled him. Would Dudley help him escape?

The hand pushed him down onto his stomach and he bit back a cry of pain as it aggravated the whip marks. The manacle around his other elbow came undone and he was pulled off the bed by his wrists.

When he was facing Dudley, though, the boy snapped both manacles closed, one inside the other. He laughed at the look on Harry’s face and led him to the center of the room where he yanked Harry’s wrists above his head. Dudley laughed again at Harry’s gasp of pain as it stretched his closing scabs until they bled again as Dudley pulled the chain upward until Harry stood on his toes. “Why?” Harry asked when he had breath enough to speak.

“Why? Because I want a try at you, of course,” Dudley mocked, shoving a gag in Harry’s mouth. “Just so Father doesn’t come down here before I’m done.”

Dudley walked behind Harry, looking him over like he was a prize or a piece of meat, making Harry’s skin crawl. “Well, Harry, I must say, you do keep in shape,” his cousin murmured, making a circuit around the tied up teen and stopping behind him.

He heard Dudley’s belt slide out of the loops of his pants and tensed for the feel of the belt on his skin. Dudley didn’t disappoint him.

He gasped in pain with the first strike, the pain increasing until it stopped abruptly. Harry panted at the reprieve until he first blow struck him. It took him a few strikes to realize that Dudley had started using his fists instead of the belt.

He also realized his cousin was punching him much the same way he’d once seen a boxer beat up on a punching bag on TV that Dudley had been watching once. His cousin circled him, punching him hard as he went until there was a sudden crack and Harry screamed behind the gag as pain bloomed across his chest. Instinctively, he knew some of his ribs had broken under the onslaught.

Dudley laughed as Harry danced away from him, but he could only move away a certain distance, thanks to his tied up hands, so Dudley advanced again and continued punching Harry again.

A half hour - and a few more broken ribs - later, when Dudley was done, he set Harry back onto his bed in the same position Vernon had left him in. Harry was shaking with pain. Dudley laughed as he walked out of the room. “I’ll come back when Father’s asleep,” he promised, putting the gag into his pocket before he closed the door and left.


	2. 1. Harry's Torment

  
Author's notes: Harry and Draco discover their past are more similar than either realized... thanks to a little help. But at what cost? And what will Dumbledore do to keep his Weapon on track?  


* * *

Chapter 2 – Draco’s Torment

At the same time, Draco tried being careful about how much time he spent in his father’s sight. He’d been lucky so far, but summer was only starting and the stress was getting hard to handle. It was worse than school work, for Merlin’s sake! He didn’t know how much more he could take of this.

He’d been spending a lot of his time in the attic, the library – when his father wasn’t there – or hidden in his room going over some of his old spell books or even spell books he’d bought that he wasn’t supposed to have. 

Out of sight, out of mind, he figured.

He finished dressing and quickly made his way to the dining room before his father sent someone for him. This was the only times he couldn’t hide without consequences. When he entered the room, a hand came out and grabbed him by the throat before he could evade it. “Where have you been, Draco?” Lucius demanded dangerously, his hand tightening slightly as he waited for an answer.

“Studying,” Draco managed to choke out, trying to quell the panic rising in his chest. “Trying to get a jump on next year’s studying.”

“Really? Then why is it I couldn’t find you?” Lucius murmured, dragging him away from the dining room, and Draco’s heart plunged as he knew exactly where his father was taking him.

“I don’t know, sir. I was in the library for the last couple of hours,” he managed to choke out around Lucius’ grip. He was finding it hard to breathe and fought to stay conscious.

“Ah, Draco, I think I’ve been too easy on you since you got back from school. I think it’s time to rectify that,” Lucius murmured as he opened the door leading to the dungeons and shoved Draco in, laughing when the boy missed the first couple of steps and fell down the rest.

“You know which room to go to,” Lucius said, coming to stand over Draco, who was gasping for air at the bottom of the stairs. When he didn’t move quickly enough, Lucius kicked him in the back. Draco hissed in pain and rose quickly to his feet to avoid being struck again.

He didn’t wait for his father to lead the way, but headed to the room Lucius had spoken of. When Lucius walked in, Draco waited to see what his father would say before he actually stripped, hoping this time would be different. “Well,” Lucius said impatiently. “Strip!”

Draco sighed inwardly, taking his clothes off and putting them on the chair in the corner. Then, he went over to the wall facing the door and, with his back to his father, braced his hands on it, waiting. Lucius didn’t disappoint him. He pulled out his wand and with every word he murmured, light flashed from the tip and struck Draco’s back, leaving burn marks the size of a grapefruit. Draco bit his lip to keep from crying out loud at the pain, knowing it would only anger his father, so he took it in silence. 

Lucius laughed, watching as more and more of Draco’s skin became blistered under the spell. After a while, he grew bored. Murmuring the words of a different spell, again Lucius pointed at Draco’s back. Draco gasped in pain before he could stop it. It felt like someone was taking chunks of skin off his back. Over and over, Lucius threw the spell at Draco, until the boy was on his knees. Draco tried not to cry, squeezing his eyes shut, waiting for his father to tire of this game of his.

Draco lost track of how long his father tortured him with spells. All he knew was that his body was on fire and he was on his knees, forehead resting against the cool rock of the dungeon. Lucius made a sound of disappointment as he looked down at his son. “How pitiful you’ve become, Draco,” Lucius murmured, taking a handful of Draco’s hair, and pulled him up to his feet. 

He pulled Draco to the center of the room and tied his wrists together with some rope and looped them over a hooked chain above his head. The chain was raised up so that Draco couldn’t move too easily.

“The Dark Lord wants to be the first to have you,” Lucius murmured from behind him and Draco felt his blood run cold. He heard the door open behind him and then close.

“Is he ready for me, Lucius?” he heard the Dark Lord ask as he walked closer to his bound captive.

“Yes, my Lord,” Lucius said with a deep bow.

“Leave us.” Lucius bowed again and walked out of the room, leaving his only child at the mercy of a sadistic bastard.  
Voldemort smiled as he drew closer to his captive. “I will enjoy making you mine, Draco,” he murmured.

* * *

That entire night and most of the next day, both men took turns torturing Draco, trying to break the boy. Draco lost track of how long he was in the dungeon; there was no light, and no windows down here. He only wanted an end to the pain. He could feel blood running down his back and down his legs from various cuts and blisters he received. 


	3. 3. Guardian-In-Study?

  
Author's notes: Harry and Draco discover their past are more similar than either realized... thanks to a little help. But at what cost? And what will Dumbledore do to keep his Weapon on track?  


* * *

Chapter 3 - Guardian-In-Study?

A young girl frowned as she watched what was going on inside the misty circles floating in front of her. She was disturbed by the violence these humans were capable of doing, even to their own offsprings. “But, Medea Karal, how can we just stand by and let this happen?” she asked for the fifth time since the lessons had begun, trying to ignore the dual sounds of pain coming, looking up at her teacher. 

The blond boy had finally given in and let the screams escape from him. His father and his friend were very persistent.

“We’re Watchers, Guardians of History, Sirel. It’s our job to let these things sort themselves out. We can’t interfere with human lives,” Karal said, losing patience with all the questions. Why he’d been saddled with this one he couldn’t figure out. “You know this. Why do you keep asking the same questions if you know the answers?”

“Because I’m hoping the answer might change one day,” she muttered to herself, glaring at the floor.

Perhaps he was the last straw; her last chance before the drastic measure was taken. It wasn’t unheard of, though it was rare. He knew she’d had several other Medea before him and each one had wanted her gone. “Enough questions for today, Sirel,” he said forcefully, holding a hand up when she opened her mouth to ask another question. “It’s been a long day. It’s time to rest. And who knows, perhaps tomorrow will show you that one of them has gotten rescued by his friends. You know how time is different with them as opposed to us. Their time runs at a faster pace. What we saw today was what happened over the course of several days. Now go.”

Sirel watched in frustration as Karal walked away. She turned and watched as first one, then the other boy screamed. How could the others stand watching such brutality, she wondered, biting her lip as she watched the blonde’s tormentor leave the room, before looking at the raven haired boy, whose tormentor wasn’t quite done yet. 

Yes, she was young by their standards, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew what was happening to these boys was wrong.

Taking a quick look around to make sure no one was watching her, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She dismissed the scenes and called another, this one of an abandoned house, checking to see if anyone had moved in. Everything was still covered in a layer of dust, but still, one could never be too careful. 

When she was sure everything was as it should be, she dismissed the new vision, looked around once more and teleported away. 

She had to do something…

* * * 

A/N: Medea means teacher. 


	4. 4. Guardian To The Rescue

Chapter 4 – Guardian to the Rescue

Draco hung limply from his chains, trying to breathe through the pain. His father and the Dark Lord were done for the night, he realized when he heard the door close. At least, he’d have a little break of a few hours while his father went out with his mother - to maintain appearances - and the Dark Lord went… wherever it was he went.

He didn’t know how to feel about his mother’s abandonment. She seemed to have forgotten he even existed. She didn't talk to him or even look at him anymore.

He stiffened slightly when he heard a noise behind him, thinking either his father or the Dark Lord had come back for another round, though he hadn’t heard the door open or close.

He felt the chain lower until he was on his knees and he stared numbly at his hands, almost like he didn’t recognize them. 

“Don’t worry,” a girl said, her voice heavily accented and slow, almost like this wasn’t the language she normally spoke in and had to translate in her head before she said the words. “I’m going to get you out of here.” 

He looked up at her, wondering who she was and what she was doing in this room.

The ropes were removed from his wrists and he hissed in pain when skin and blood came away with it, but the pain didn’t last long. He felt a slight heat when she placed her small hands on his wrists. When she let go of them, the wrists looked like nothing had ever happened to them. 

He looked up at her in surprise. What did she do? He was even more surprised to see she was level with him when he was on his knees. _She can’t been more than five or six,_ he thought to himself.

She tilted her head to one side and smiled sweetly at him. “Can you get dressed?” she asked him, making him more conscious of his nudity, though she acted like this wasn’t new to her or that it didn’t bother her.

He nodded, too stunned to answer her with words, and watched as she walked over to where his clothes were and dragged them over to him. As quickly as his abused body would let him, he dressed and stood, weaving slightly as dizziness made the room swim, so he closed his eyes to let the room settle. He felt her hand on his and felt warmth envelop him again. Suddenly he felt better and opened his eyes to look at her once more. _Who is she?_

He’d never heard of anyone being able to do whatever she was doing. Was she healing him? If so where was her wand? “Where are we going to go?” he asked her, bending down so he was more her level. He never cared for looking down at younger kids. “And how’re we going to get out of here?” he asked hoarsely.

She tilted her head again, an action Draco found adorable, even if he found it a sign of her innocence. It was when you looked at her eyes that you could see the difference, though. Her eyes looked too old for the size of her body and her mannerisms. 

Her eyes went momentarily vague. “Don’t worry about that. We have to hurry, though. The other one’s almost done.” 

Draco looked at her, puzzled by her words. He wanted to ask what other, but didn’t think he really wanted to know. “I need to get my wand before we leave,” he told her and looked at her, stunned, when she held it out to him, smiling again.

“You mean this?” 

He nodded in surprise and took it from her.

She took his hand and the next thing he saw was a different room. He let go of her hand in surprise and looked around the room. “How-?” he asked, looking down at her, but she was already gone. _The other_ , he thought as he slowly sat down on the chair closest to him. When he finally looked around himself again, he noticed he was in a living room. _So whose place is this?_

* * *

Harry tried not to breathe too deeply since it aggravated the burns on his chest or his still broken ribs. He was just glad Dudley was done. Now he’d be able to pass out in peace. He could hear his heart beating in his ears and concentrated on the next shallow breath he dragged in.

Suddenly the heat on his chest increased and he cracked his one good eye open to see a girl of five or six kneeling beside him with her hand on his chest. 

Funny enough it didn’t hurt anymore. 

Not even his ribs.

He looked up at her again and noticed her eyes were unfocused. Just as sudden as it had started, it ended and she looked down at him, smiling sweetly.

That’s when he heard the door. She tensed up and ran towards the door. He figured she was going to hide behind it, but it opened too fast and he saw Uncle Vernon standing there. They stared at each other in surprise before she turned to run back to Harry, but Uncle Vernon was quick to recovered and grabbed her arm. 

Harry hadn’t thought the fat bastard could move that fast.

The girl screamed when he grabbed her and, pulling his hand back, slapped her across the face. For a moment, Harry thought the older man might have killed the child rather than incapacitate her as he’d intended when she went limp with the blow. She didn’t even scream at the pain Harry knew that slap gave.

Vernon picked her up effortlessly and walked over to Harry. “I thought I told you to keep your freaky friends away from here,” he yelled angrily, throwing the girl beside Harry. She landed like a rag doll, her long hair spilling over Harry’s chest and the boy worried when she didn’t move.

He didn’t say anything for a minute, watching his uncle’s face. It looked like he was going to work himself into a fine rage when his eyes suddenly went blank and he straightened up. Harry watched in amazement and surprise as his uncle turned and walked away without another word, closing the door behind him.

The girl beside him sat up slowly and rubbed her face. He though he heard her mutter something like stupid human, before she turned to look at him. He was shocked to see the size of the bruise his uncle had given her. It covered one entire side of her face.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked Harry as she reached down and took the collared chain away from his neck.

Harry hadn’t realized how heavy it had been until it was gone. It fell on the bed when she couldn’t hold it anymore.

She frowned, looking at her fingers in confusion. They seemed to multiply before solidifying again. 

He sighed in relief and sat up in bed. “Where’re we going?” he asked, noticing her eyes becoming a bit glossy. “Are you alright?” he asked in concern, reaching out to touch her arm, but stopped when she flinched away from him.

She shook her head slightly. “Yeah. If you’ll get dressed, I’ll take you away from here,” she told him calmly, if a bit shaken. She’d never had such violence dealt to her in all her short years, no matter what she’d done at home. She wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

Suddenly Harry’s clothes were on the bed and he couldn’t explain how they’d gotten there. Harry didn’t know what to do for her, so he got dressed as quickly as he could, standing next to the bed, still looking at her in concern. 

“I’m ready,” he said, sitting beside her on the bed. She hadn’t moved, didn't even looked up at him, and her face now seemed swollen where the bruise was. Was she alright?

She handed him his wand and took his hand, pulling him off the bed and stood beside him, weaving a little before she steadied herself. By the time Harry reached down to help her, they were already somewhere else. 

Her eyes rolled back and her legs gave way as darkness came up to claim her.

Harry caught her before she fell to the floor. He whipped around when he heard someone gasp behind him, the girl in his arms, ready to protect her.

“What did you do to her, _Potter_?”


	5. 5. A Secret Place To Hide

Chapter 5 – A Secret Place to Hide

“What did you do to her, _Potter?_ ” Draco spat in anger, walking toward Harry intent on taking her from the Boy Who Lived until he noticed the bruises Harry sported that matched the one on the girl’s face.

“Nothing. My uncle caught her trying to set me free and hit her.” Harry looked around the living room warily. Was this a trap? “Where are we?” he asked Draco. 

“Don’t know. She chose this place,” Draco said, looking around the room, too. “I was just about to start looking around when you appeared out of nowhere. Draco looked at Harry, who was still holding the girl. “Lay her down on the couch. She doesn’t look too good,” he murmured, noticing how pale she was.

Harry didn’t argue, but laid her gently down on the couch. 

Draco reached out and gently touched her bruised cheek, pulling back when she whimpered in her sleep and pulled away from his light touch. He pulled out his wand and murmured a simple healing spell. The swelling went down a little, as did the bruising, but not by much. “Well, that was unexpected,” he murmured, frowning when the bruise didn’t go away. “I’ve done that spell on myself loads of times and it’s always healed everything.”

“Maybe she can’t be healed by magic,” Harry suggested, frowning too. “She doesn’t look like she belongs here, does she,” he murmured more to himself than to Draco, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked so… fragile, like she’d never been touched by the violence that happened in the world. “Just who is she? Where did she come from?”

“And how does she keep vanishing the way she does? Even Apparating doesn’t happen that fast. The only thing I’ve seen do that, and even then, they aren’t that fast and they make noise, are house-elves,” Draco commented, straightening up. “Well, there’s nothing we can do until she wakes up so we can ask for some answers. Shall we go explore this house?”

Harry looked up at Draco in surprise. Where were the insults? The anger towards the “Boy Who Lived”? What had happened to Draco this summer? “Um… sure. Maybe it’ll give us a clue as to where we are. Should we look together or separately?” he asked, not wanting to provoke a fight between them. Especially when everything between them was… civil, for now. He wouldn’t say friendly, at least not just yet.

“If we separate, we can cover more ground, but if we go together, we don’t have to compare notes. It’s up to you,” Draco said with a shrug. I’m only being nice to Harry because of the girl, he told himself, not wanting to look too deeply as to why he was being nice to Harry.

“Let’s separate and look around. We’ll meet back here when we’re done. I’ll take the upstairs and attic, and you can take the ground level and basement.” 

Draco nodded and walked away, glad for the reprieve of being with the Golden Boy. This was going to be a trying time, he knew. How was he supposed to go back to hating Harry if he had to spend a lot of time with him?

* * *

Harry headed up the stairs and down the hall, looking inside every room as he met up with a door.

The first one was empty of everything but an empty dresser, a bed, a lamp table and closet. As were the next three rooms. 

And dust, lots of dust.

This place had been deserted for quite some time, it seemed, judging by the amount of dust everywhere, but whose house had it been? 

As Harry approached the last bedroom on this floor, he felt a chill run down his back, but dismissed it. 

Opening the door he was surprised to see sheets covering most of the furniture. He was about to close the door when something caught his eye: a movement under the sheet. Walking over to he table, he noticed it was a picture. Frowning, he pulled it out from under the sheet and gasped as he saw who was looking out at him from it.

“Mum and Dad?” he whispered in shock. This was their house? _His_ house? They smiled back at him, forever caught coming down some steps: Lily in a wedding dress, James in his formal robes.

* * *

That was where Draco found him an hour later. “Potter, have you grown roots up here?” he drawled sarcastically. When that didn’t provoke Harry into a retort, he walked closer to see what the other boy was looking at. “You mean to tell me this is your house?” he asked incredulously.

“I didn’t even know they still had a house,” Harry murmured, eyes blank with shock.

“You mean, Dumbledore never told you if it was sealed up or simply sold?” Draco asked, surprised that such hadn’t actually been done. It was rare that houses weren’t sold, especially if the ones who owned it had died, even if they left a child behind.

“I never thought to ask, actually. With Dumbledore, unless you ask, he doesn’t tell you,” Harry murmured, looking down at the picture again. 

Draco had to agree with that. 

“I always wondered why there weren’t more of their things left over except for the picture album and cape that I got first year,” he murmured to himself.

“I hate to interrupt, but the girl’s awake. Did you want to ask her any questions before she vanishes on us?” Draco asked jokingly. When Harry didn’t respond, he became serious again. “Come on, Harry. We can look for more of their things again later. Right now we need answers that only that little girl can provide.”

The use of his given name seemed to bring Harry out of his thoughts and he followed Draco downstairs, keeping the picture in his hands.

* * *

Sirel sat up slowly, still feeling slightly dizzy. How could a grown man like that get away with striking a child like her? She’d have done more than mind stun him if she’d have been able to think, but he seemed to have robbed her of her senses with that slap. She reached up and felt her cheek, wondering if it looked as bad as it felt. There was no time to look in a mirror right now. She had other things to worry about.

How long had she been out? Had her Medea realized she was gone yet? She hoped not.

Right now she had to take care of those boys and be gone before they came back and asked her too many questions. Of course, she wasn’t under the constraints the others were under… yet. Which is why she had actually dared to do what she’d done. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be able to refrain from answering all their questions. Which would probably alert the others to her transgressions, especially if they asked her the wrong question.

She frowned, trying to think. _What was the name of that creature again? The one who had been determined to help the raven-haired boy a few years back? Ah, yes!_ “Dobby!” she called out. As soon as the name was out, she heard a pop from behind her.

“You called Dobby, Mistress?” the house-elf asked, curiosity in his eyes.

She turned to face Dobby, smiling at him, trying not to wince as the smile pulled at the bruised side of her face. “Yes, Dobby. I have a favor to ask of you. Would you be so kind as to take care of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy for me? They’re in no shape to do much at the moment and I’m sure Mr. Potter would love to have you around.”

Dobby’s ears perked up at the mention of Harry’s name. “Of course, Mistress. Anything for Harry Potter!” he gushed excitedly. “Dobby will start right away!” With another pop, the house-elf was gone, probably to the kitchen to cook something for the boys.

With a satisfied sigh, she looked in a mirror to assess the damage to her face. She winced when she saw how bad it was. She ran her hand over her cheek, and was surprised when it didn’t heal more than half. The swelling was still there and the bruise had faded but not enough to be invisible. “Great,” she muttered, glaring at the bruise accusingly. It was going to give her away!

“So, just what are you?” 

Looking up at the mirror above the fireplace in surprise, she saw both boys standing there, looking at her, Draco’s arms crossed over his chest, Harry holding on to a frame of some kind. _So,_ she thought to herself, _they know whose house this is._

“And are you ready to give us some answers?”


	6. 6. What Are You?

Chapter 6 – What are you?

“What do you want to know?” she asked with a sigh of resignation. “But,” she added, holding up a warning hand when Draco opened his mouth to start, “I can’t answer everything, so choose your questions well.”

Draco looked at Harry, silently asking him if he wanted to start. “Why wasn’t I told about this house?” Harry asked, looking down at the picture in his hand again.

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask the one you call…” She frowned, trying to think of the name. “Ah! Yes! Your Headmaster for that answer. I can only answer questions concerning you two personally.”

“Out of all the years this has been going on, why didn’t anyone interfere before you?” Draco asked, figuring it was his turn to ask a question.

“Because we’re not supposed to. I just got tired of watching what was happening to you both,” she said with a shrug.

Draco’s eyebrows rose at that. “And just what are you?” He saw Harry move to sit on the couch, looking at the girl and decided to sit on the chair next to him.

“I am a Guardian of History,” she said proudly, looking at them like she expected them to know what that was supposed to mean. When she only got blank looks, she sighed in irritation. “We watch what happens here and record it. Sometimes it’s quite boring.”

“Your name?” Harry asked, wondering why she was giving so short of an answer to the questions. 

“My name is Sirel, and, please, keep that to yourselves,” she warned them with a stern look. 

“Why?” Draco asked curiously.

“Because we’re not suppose to interfere. That’s why we’re Guardians. We record history, not interact with it.” Her eyes went hazy for a few seconds. “That’s all I can answer for right now. Please, don’t tell anyone about me. If the others find out…” She shook her head, her thoughts shying away from what they could do to her if she was caught. “Also, if I give you too much information, the others will know what I did. I could get into so much trouble,” she murmured as she realized just how much trouble she would be in if the others found out.

“Wait!” Harry said when he realized she was about to leave them. “How do we get a hold of you if we need some answers?”

She seemed frustrated by this question but answered anyway. “Just call my name and if I can, I’ll come. But please, use it sparingly!” And with that she was gone.

Harry looked over at Draco. His look was exactly how he felt: confused. “Well, that really didn’t answer anything, did it?” he commented.

Draco shrugged after a moment. “Yeah, but that’s our own fault. We didn’t ask the right questions. Did it seem to you like she couldn’t help answering some of our questions, though?” he asked Harry, shifting on the chair.

Harry nodded. “You know something else? We’re going to have to tell Dumbledore and the others about her. How else are we going to explain how we got out of our predicaments?”

Draco seemed surprised by that. “Why say anything at all? It’s not like they did anything to help us. She did. We don’t owe them anything.” 

Both teenagers jumped as Dobby Apparated into the living room. “Lunch is ready in the kitchen, Masters,” he told them and Apparated out. They looked at each other and began to laugh.

“I guess she took care of that too,” Harry murmured when he finally got control over himself. Both boys rose and headed for the kitchen, Draco in the lead.


	7. 7. Narrow Escape

Chapter 7 – Narrow escape

Sirel ran down the stairs as fast as she could and tripped on the last few steps, slamming into the pillar at the bottom. She crumpled to the floor, thinking it was a good thing she hit the same side as the bruise. _This could be good_ , she thought dazedly. _But, damn that hurt… again!_

“Sirel, what’re you doing on the floor?” 

She looked up and blinked to bring Karal into focus. 

“What happened to you?” he asked in concern when he saw half her face was swollen and sporting a big bruise. He knelt down next to her.

“I was hurrying to get down here from my room and tripped,” she whispered, mortified to feel tears falling down her face. She felt him pick her up and closed her eyes, as the movement made her slightly dizzy. She let him carry her wherever he wanted, only wanting to rest. Her head was starting to pound again.

“You need to rest, Sirel. We’ll take up your lessons tomorrow when you feel better,” Karal murmured gently as he laid her down on her bed. She didn’t even hear him leave, but was grateful to just lay there and rest. 

Soon she was asleep.

* * *

Karal left her, shaking his head at her antics. She sure was a weird child, even by their standards.

When he was close to his work area, a Guardian walked over to Karal from the group of very agitated Guardians. “We can’t find them anywhere, sir.” 

“Who?”

“Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. We can’t locate them anywhere.”

Karal’s eyes narrowed slightly. She wouldn’t have, would she? She knew what would happen if she was caught interfering… didn’t she? “Listen in on the others' conversations. Maybe we can find them through Harry Potter’s supporters. I don’t think Draco Malfoy has anyone on his side who’d miss him, but listen in on that side as well. Let me know immediately if you know what’s happened to them.” 

The other Guardian nodded and walked away to talk to the others.

* * *

Draco glanced over at Harry as the other boy lounged on the couch with an old book on Defensive Spells they’d found in the library. Draco, himself, had one on potions. They’d been surprised when they'd found the library on one of their numerous searches of the house.

Over the last couple of weeks, they’d fallen into a pattern. 

In the morning, they’d practice some Quidditch to keep in shape. In the afternoon, they’d study some of the books in the library. They’d have used their school books, but those were at their respective homes and out of their reach.

Dobby, the poor house-elf, had been so disgusted with the state of the house. He hadn’t even asked Harry’s permission, but had just gotten down to business. Of course, it was probably only possible because the house-elf had been set free in their second year, thanks to Harry.

Draco had always wondered what had happened to him. He’d thought his father had killed him, actually, until Harry had told him what had actually transpired. That had been two days after they’d been at this house, during one of their exploration trips through the house.

“What are we practicing today,” he asked Harry, stretching lazily, crossing his ankles out in front of him.

“Well, we did some potions yesterday…” Harry murmured, closing his book, but keeping a finger in between the pages to save his place. “Should we practice wandless magic again? After all, we can’t use our wands without giving ourselves away.”

Draco had actually been surprised at how good Harry really was at potions, but then it was like Harry had said: without the constant disapproval from someone who was supposed to be teaching him, he found he could relax and concentrate better on what he was supposed to do. 

Draco had also helped immensely.

“Actually,” Draco murmured with a lazy smile. “I think we’re getting pretty good at wandless magic. I thought we might want to try something different.”

“Oh? Like what?” Harry asked in interest.

“I found a book in your library yesterday that looked like no one’s read it in a very, very long time. Want to check it out?”

Harry’s attention perked up immediately. “You left it in the library?”

Draco nodded and shrugged at Harry’s frown. “I figured it was as good a place to leave it as any. Besides, I marked where I found it. Shall we?”

“Let’s go check it out, then. I’m curious to see what it is.” Both boys rose and, with a bent corner to mark his place, Harry dropped the book on the coffee table. 

They walked towards the back of the house where they’d found the library. 

Once inside, it didn’t take Draco long to retrieve the book he’d spoken of and show it to Harry. “Sword Magic? How are we supposed to practice this? We don’t have any swords,” Harry asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Would these help?” they heard from behind them and turned to see Sirel standing by the door, smiling sweetly, holding two swords by their hilts, the tips resting on the floor.

“How did you know we’d need them?” Draco asked, even more surprised than Harry at her sudden appearance. “Where have you been?” Both boys noticed that the bruise was gone from her face.

“I was here when you found the book a couple of hours ago,” she told them. “Then I remembered seeing these and thought you might need them.”

“A couple of hours ago?” Draco said in confusion, looking at the little girl strangely. “I found the book yesterday afternoon. Just how much time difference is there between here and where you’re from?” He wondered if they’d ever get an even footing when it came to this child. She seemed to know way too much for such a small child.

Sirel frowned as she thought about it. “I guess you could measure it as one of your days would be equal to three of our hours,” she said with a shrug. “This is why I cautioned you about calling for me before. I don’t know what I’d be doing at the time you would call, and I could be found out because of it.”

“What time would it be right now where you’re from?” Draco asked her curiously.

“Noon, right now.”

“Why did you bring us here, to this house?” Harry asked her.

“Because it’s yours. Because it’s safe. It was…” She frowned in thought, shaking her head, almost like she was trying to remember something. “Hidden, long ago.”

“Hidden? By whom? How?” Draco asked, seeing Harry’s interest was just as aroused as his own.

“I’m not sure. I just remember someone mentioning it once. That’s why I knew you’d both be safe here. Only you can bring someone here, now,” Sirel told them, smiling sweetly again.

“How long can you stay before they discover you’re gone?” Harry asked suddenly, remembering what she’d told them about the time difference on her world.

“Not very long. Some of the elders were getting agitated about something when I went down for lessons, but no one was telling me anything.” 

At her words, Harry and Draco looked at each other, wondering the same thing. Had her people found out something had happened to them? Had they figured out she was the reason behind their disappearances yet? 

“I just wanted to check on you before I asked my Medea what was going on.”

“Who?” Draco asked before Harry could ask his own question.

“He’s like your…” She frowned, looking for the right word. “What do you call your Headmaster or that wolf man?”

“Wolf man?" Harry asked, with an eyebrow raised. He’d never heard Remus referred to as a wolf man before, though he figured it was an accurate description. "You mean teacher?” 

“Yes! That’s it,” she said, smiling at him. “Teacher.”

“What did you mean? Are you telling us that they might not be able to see us? Is that why you didn’t know how we were doing? That you had to come here to find out?” Harry asked, realizing what this could mean for Sirel if he was right about what he thought she was saying.

She looked slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable for a minute. “I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. And I know where to look. The Shield around this place seems to be hiding you from us as well as everyone else.”

“What’ll happen to you if they find out what you did?” Draco asked as he, too, realized the amount of trouble she could be in.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anyone interfering with their charges before,” she told them. The boys were surprised to see fear in her eyes. “But then, I’m not that old.”

“You’d better get back before you get into too much trouble,” Harry told her. Draco nodded his assent.

“You’ll need these for that book,” she told them and they both saw a look no child her age should have on her face. She looked like she was fifty instead of the five she really was. 

Then she was gone.


	8. 8. New Discoveries

Chapter 8 – New discoveries

Dumbledore raised his hands for silence as the ten people in front of him fought to be heard before the others. “Quiet!” 

Silence.

“Now, what do you mean you can’t find Harry?” he asked them, looking from one to the other. “He’s supposed to be at his relatives' house. And since no one from our side has gone to get him, we know we don’t have him. And if Voldemort had him, we’d know. The wards would have alerted us to a forceful entry. Did anyone question Mr. Dursley?”

“I did, but he said he didn’t know anything. He's hiding something, though. I feel it,” Remus murmured, sitting back in his chair. “Plus, all his things were there, including Hedwig. And we know he wouldn’t have left her in his uncle’s hands.”

“Why don’t we let Hedwig go? She’d find Harry for us… wouldn’t she?” Hermione asked, looking at everyone at the table. “We could write him a note to send us word of where he is.”

“Let’s try that. If that fails, then he’s somewhere where she can’t reach him and we’ll know to worry for the worse," Molly agreed, nodding at the suggestion.

“Apparently, Headmaster, Draco has also vanished from his father’s home. Lucius was quite… cross. Even Voldemort wasn’t thrilled with his disappearance. I think they were going to give him the Mark this summer,” Snape murmured from the door, before sweeping in, his robesbillowing behind him.

“Curious. Perhaps..?” Dumbledore started, eyes narrowing in thought. “Miss Granger, if you compose the letter and attach it to Hedwig, I’m sure she’ll find him without problem.”

Hermione nodded and jumped up, quickly leaving the room to write the letter. “While she’s doing that, I suggest we not worry needlessly. If Harry was in any danger, we would know it,” Dumbledore murmured, looking at each person again, making sure they all believed him… though he wasn’t quite sure of it himself.

* * *

Harry threw down his sword in frustration. “We’re _never_ going to get these complicated spells down. We _need_ someone who knows how it’s done.”

Draco didn’t say anything, after all, what could he say? He agreed with Harry! He watched Harry drop down to the ground beside him, admiring the fact that the raven-haired boy didn’t care what he looked like at the moment. 

His hair was in disarray and his pants had holes on the knees, not to mention that they were too big for the slender young man. “Let’s take a break. Dobby brought us a picnic. Why don’t we enjoy it? We can try again later, when we’re rested,” Draco murmured, rising to his feet and offering Harry a hand up.

With a sigh, Harry took the offered hand. “You’re right. Let’s have lunch.” They walked over to where a blanket had been laid out in the garden, a big basket next to it.

As they ate, they took turns telling jokes, trying to lift their mood before attempting those swords again. 

Suddenly, Draco leaned forward and kissed Harry, cutting off the joke he’d been telling. 

Harry froze in surprise. 

When he didn’t return the kiss, Draco pulled back. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, bending his head, letting his hair hide his flushed face.

Harry blinked, shook off his surprise and put a finger under Draco’s chin, forcing the other boy to look at him. “Don’t be,” he murmured, smiling gently. Leaning forward, it was his turn to surprise Draco by kissing him. 

It took only seconds for Draco to kiss him back, moaning in pleasure. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he whispered against Harry’s lips before tracing them with his tongue.

Harry opened his mouth, allowing Draco’s questing tongue in. He ran his fingers through the silky hair, sighing in contentment, deepening the kiss, food forgotten.

Draco slid his own fingers under Harry’s shirt, reveling in the feel of the muscles under it. It was Harry’s turn to moan in pleasure as Draco’s questing fingers found his nipples. Draco smiled as Harry sighed, he tilted Harry's head back and pushing him down on his back. He took the opportunity presented and began kissing his way down Harry’s neck.

He sucked hard at the base of Harry’s neck, loving the sounds emanating from deep inside the chest beneath him. He pulled back to look at his handiwork, smiling at the red spot. Dipping down, he ran his tongue over the bruise before continuing on his way, smiling as Harry whimpered in pleasure.

He tugged Harry’s shirt up, wanting to see more and Harry helped him, pulling the offending material up and over his head, throwing it down on the blanket beside them. Draco continued kissing his way down the chest beneath him, smiling as he neared one of Harry’s nipples. His tongue darted out and flicked briefly against the small pebble, watching in pleasure as it puckered quickly. 

Harry moaned and arched up as Draco’s mouth fastened on it, sucking hard. He tangled his fingers in Draco’s mane for more. Draco chuckled, his breath hitting the moist hot skin, making Harry shiver in pleasure. 

He then turned his attention to the neglected nipple, doing the same to it, making Harry writhe under him. 

Harry tugged Draco’s shirt up, wanting to feel the warm skin that lay beneath the fabric, and Draco obliged, throw it down on the blanket next to Harry’s. 

Harry sighed in pleasure, his hands caressing Draco’s velvety smooth skin, not realizing how much he’d wanted to touch Draco until now.

Soon – too soon for Harry – Draco continued, kissing his way down to the edge of Harry’s pants. Harry's eyes flew opened in panic.

"Draco," he murmured, pulling the other up.

Draco looked up at him, eyes darkened by passion as he thought of how close he was to his goal. “Don’t you want this?” he asked huskily.

“I just think this is happening too quickly. We need to slow down. We’ve just become friends and I don’t want to ruin that by becoming lovers this soon. I don’t want us to become enemies again,” Harry explained quickly, hoping Draco would understand.

Draco closed his eyes and rested his head on Harry’s stomach, taking deep breaths to calm his body. “You’re right,” he murmured softly and looked up at Harry. Moving up, he kissed Harry’s lips again. With a frustrated sigh, he pulled away and rose to his feet. “Come on, before I change my mind and ravish you right now,” Draco told him, holding his hand out to help Harry to his feet. “Let’s go back to practicing with the swords.”

Harry followed Draco, frowning in thought. “I thought you were with Parkinson,” he blurted out suddenly.

Draco looked at Harry in surprise before he burst out laughing.

Harry raised an amused eyebrow and waited patiently for Draco to get control of himself. “Pansy and I are only good friends. Blaise was who I was interested in on and off. I’m surprised you didn’t know. The whole school did.” Draco looked at Harry suspiciously. Had the Gryffindors suspected Harry’s sexual preference and gone out of their way to keep any mention of gay relationships from their Saviour?

Harry’s response confirmed his suspicions. “Really?”

“Even Finnegan is gay.”

Harry’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?”

“Harry, before today, had you any idea that your preference lay with your own gender?” Draco asked, as they entered the room they were using to practice in.

“I suspected, especially after Ginny kissed me at the end of last year and it felt like I was kissing my own sister. She didn’t seem to like that too much.”

Draco started laughing again as he thought of the red-haired girl’s reaction to _that_ news. “I’m sure that went well.”

“Let’s just get some practicing done instead of discussing the lack of my sex life,” Harry mock-growled, shoving the blond onto a chair.


	9. 9. Unexpected Surprises

Chapter 9 – Unexpected Surprise

Sirel came out of her room, intending to go down to her lessons but stopped short when she met up with a solid wall of material. Looking up, she hoped she didn’t she didn’t look as guilty as she felt when she saw who was standing there.

“What have you done, Sirel?” Karal asked sternly. He didn’t look too happy. _Does he know what I’ve done? This can’t be good_ , she thought, trying to hide her thoughts.

“Done?” she asked, knowing that if she didn’t come out and deny anything, then she wouldn’t be accused of lying to him.

“We’ve looked everywhere and listened to everyone. No one knows where those young men are. Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” she told him truthfully. In fact, she didn’t know the _exact_ location Harry and Draco were in, so that was safe to tell him without getting into too much trouble. Her heart sank when she saw his lips tighten in disapproval and his eyes flashed dangerously. 

“Follow me.”

She resisted the urge to gulp as she followed in his wake, head down. This would not bode well for her. What would happen to her now?

* * *

Harry woke up slowly, letting his thoughts wander where they wanted, content to just lie there. He thought back at how much time they’d spent at this house and was surprised to realize that they’d been here for _eight_ weeks now. His birthday was only a few days away, he realized.

The day before, he’d voiced his worry to Draco about the lack of Sirel’s appearance. “What if they caught her? What do you think they’ll do to her?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if we’ll know if she _is_ in trouble,” Draco had responded.

It was funny how, considering they hadn’t known her long, she’d wormed her way into their lives and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her on their account.

They’d _finally_ found a way to cast spells with the swords. 

Over the last few weeks, they’d actually gotten good at it, so much so that Harry was surprised at how easy it had actually been to learn the moves! 

And all it had taken was a week and a half!

Harry had swung his sword too hard and the movement had actually sent him spinning into the pattern he’d been trying for days. The spell had hit a bush in the backyard, destroying it instantly. That was when they figured out that the movements were actually more a dance than just movements.

“Wow,” Draco had murmured in awe, eyebrows raised as they watched the remains of the bush smolder.

That had been the key to understanding what the book had meant about the movements and footsteps. Now, they practiced together. Perhaps they weren’t as good as they could’ve been had they had someone to teach them, but at least they could cast some spells using something other than their wands.

Besides their growing understanding of the spells they were now casting, Harry and Draco were coming to know each other very well. They spent several nights talking about how they had grown up. 

Harry had been surprised to find out just how big a part of Draco's life Professor Snape was. Things were finally becoming very clear for Harry, especially where it came to Draco.

As for the relationship between them, well, they had indeed taken it slowly, just like Harry had wanted. But now, Harry wondered if they should take it to the next level. Last night had resulted into a very heavy petting. 

Harry smiled happily and stretched lazily, peeking over at his bedmate. Who’d have ever thought he and Draco would ever become friends, let alone involved?

His smile slowly faded as he thought of his friends. Ron was going to have a litter of kittens when he found out about this. Not only did he hate Draco with a passion – and for good reason – he also hated people who were gay. Why? He didn’t know, but that was how his friend was.

He remembered one instance when Ron had had a Hufflepuff student in tears after he’d found out the boy was gay. He didn’t relish telling his best friend about his own relationship with Draco.

“What are you thinking of that’s got you looking like that?” Draco murmured, yawning lazily. 

“I was just thinking about our friends. Ron’s going to have kittens when he realizes we’re involved. Hermione will want to analyze everything and tell us why we can’t be together. Not to mention your friends. What’re we going to do once we get back to school?”

Draco shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do about this right now, so why worry? We’ll deal with it once we actually have a problem with our friends.”

They both sat up with a start at the sound of something tapping at the window. Frowning, Harry got up, grabbing his glasses as he walked over to the window. Throwing the curtains open, he squinted at the sun it let in. 

“Hedwig?” he said when he noticed who was at the window. He quickly opened the window for her, glad she was alright. “How’d you find me?” he asked as she landed on the footboard and twittered at him.

He closed the window and went over to her, running his fingers through her feathers until her eyes closed in bliss. When he withdrew his hand, she nibbled on his fingers and presented her leg to him so he could take the message she was carrying.

Opening it up, he wasn’t surprised to find it was from Hermione, though he found it disappointing that it had taken them this long to start worrying about him. Turning the letter over, he quickly opened it and read the message, shaking his head.

“What is it?” Draco asked curiously.

“They want to know where I am. It’s funny how long it took for them to miss their Savior,” Harry muttered bitterly as he walked over to the desk in the other room and penned a response.

‘Hermione,

I’m fine, but could you please pick up my school books for me and whatever else I’ll need for classes? I’ll see you at Hogwarts in a few days.

Thanks,

Harry’

He frowned and looked up at Draco. “Who do you want me to inform that you need your school stuff?” he asked the young man on the bed.

Draco shrugged indifferently. “Severus is the only one who’d care about my wellbeing,” he informed Harry.

Bending quickly, he added another line to the message. 

‘Also, let Professor Snape know that Draco will require his school supplies and could he please pick them up.’

He tied the note to Hedwig and carried her over to the window. “When you’re done, go to the Owlry at the school. I promise, I’ll go and see you as soon as I can,” he told her and let her go. She flew off with a hoot.

“Now we have no choice but to tell them where we’ve been,” Harry said sadly, as he closed the window and walked back to the bed. He didn’t really _want_ to give up this refuge.

“No, we don’t. If you tell them, they’ll ask how we got here. You know this. We can’t do that to her,” Draco told him stubbornly, getting more than a little exasperated with Harry. It was as if he had a one-track mind. “How many more times do we have to go over this?”

“What about us?” Harry asked him, watching him from the corner of his eye.

“What about us?” Draco asked in confusion. Sometimes he found that Harry liked changing subjects on him, like now. What was he talking about now?

“Are we going to continue being lovers once we reach school? Or are we going to go back to what our friends think we should be?”

Draco laughed sarcastically. “When we get back to school, you’ll be Gryffindor’s Golden Boy and I’ll be the Slytherin Prince again. You know how it is. Appearances. If we act any differently, You-Know-Who’ll catch wind of it and try to use it against you.”

“True,” Harry said with a shrug, not really caring at the moment. 

“So, we keep up the pretense and go around like we don’t really like each other,” Draco murmured sleepily. Suddenly he sat up quickly. “You know what I just thought of? The others in Slytherin are going to know something’s up. My father’s a Death Eater, after all.”

Harry looked at him thoughtfully for a minute. “You know, you were right, why tell them anything. We’ll just play it by ear. It’s all we can do.”

Draco looked at Harry in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“It’s like you said, we don’t owe them anything.” Harry frowned as he thought of how much trouble this was going to cause, then shrugged. “We’ll deal with things as they come.”

* * *

The afternoon before they would have had to get aboard the Hogwarts Express, Harry and Draco flew off for Hogwarts on a couple of old brooms they’d found stuffed in the back of a closet.

They stopped for a few hours when it got light again. Draco assured Harry that they were still a few hours away from the school, though Harry couldn’t tell. He’d always taken the train, after all. So they were relying on Draco’s memory of where to find it.

They continued a couple of hours later, filled with a light breakfast. At around lunchtime, they again stopped to eat and rest for an hour. They’d been flying for a couple of hours after sunset now , just about the time they would be pulling into the train station leading to the school, when Draco turned to look at Harry with a grin and pointed to their right. There, standing majestic in the hill was Hogwarts School. Harry smiled back and both boys headed towards the familiar grounds they called home.


	10. 10. Change In Plans

Chapter 10 – Change In Plans

Draco and Harry split up just before they got to the main door, one going ahead of the other so no one would suspect anything different between the two young men.

It didn’t take long for Draco to be found by his old cronies, Harry saw with an amused shake of his head as he made his own way to the Gryffindor table where some of his school mates were already seated.

“Hello, Harry. How was your summer?” Seamus asked, nodding a greeting to him.

Harry shrugged indifferently. “Same as usual,” he lied smoothly. He sat down and was soon joined by Hermione and Ron, who glared at him. 

“Where were you?” Hermione hissed demandingly, sitting across from him. Ron sat beside her, waiting for Harry to answer.

Harry felt an eyebrow rise at the tone she used on him. Like he was an errant boy who couldn’t take care of himself without supervision or something. “Excuse me?” He could feel his anger rise. _How dare she treat me like this!_ “I don’t owe you any kind of _explanation_ , Hermione. You’re not my mother. And you can stop looking at me like that as well, Ronald Weasley,” he told them both.

“We thought You-Know-Who had snatched you from Privet Drive! Professor Lupin was beside himself worrying about you. Why didn’t you at least send us an owl to let us know where you were? That you were safe?” she demanded, bristling at his anger.

Harry tamped down the guilt that was rising in him at the mention of his parent's oldest friend being worried about him. He would _not_ let them do that to him... not again.

“Because where I was, there were no owls,” he hissed. This was getting ridiculous. “Oh, and thanks for the letters this summer asking how I was. It was sure nice,” he said sarcastically. “It sure took you guys long enough to remember about me.”

Their faces turned white then red at his words, as his criticism sank in. He turned away in disgust from his friends and ignored them for the rest of the feast.

Funny enough, they actually left him alone to brood. _That's a first,_ he thought in amusement. _Usually they pester until they get the answers they want_

Sometime around dessert, he became aware that someone was standing behind him. Turning around, he realized it was his stern Head of House. “Hello, Professor McGonagall.”

“Mr. Potter.” Her tone conveyed her disappointment and anger better than he’d ever imagined two simple words could. “Professor Dumbledore would like to see you after supper. Only you,” she told him, looking at Hermione and Ron with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, Professor,” Harry murmured and turned back to his plate. As discreetly as possible, he cast a look towards the Slytherin table and saw Professor Snape talking to Draco.

As Snape started walking away, Draco looked over at him and, noticing Harry’s glance, shrugged back at him to let him know he, too, was in trouble.

_Great_ , Harry thought bitterly. _Here we go._

* * *

“But Professor, we really _don’t_ know where we were. All we know is that we were taken to a safe place to rest and recover from what was happening to us at home,” Harry told the Headmaster. He’d been saying the same thing for an hour. After all, it wasn’t like he was lying.

Beside him, Draco was silent, letting Harry do all the talking. In the room with them were Professors McGonagall, Snape, Lupin – who was teaching DADA again - and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. “But Harry, dear,” Mrs. Weasley asked, trying not to anger the boy again. Her tone was actually having the opposite reaction. It was getting on his nerves. “Taken by whom?”

“We promised not to tell. It would only get her in trouble,” Harry said, hoping they would take the hint and drop the subject.

“Who would get in trouble? And with whom?” Professor McGonagall asked. 

_Trust her not to let a subject go,_ Draco thought in disgust, trying hard not to roll his eyes at the denseness some adults could display. “We can’t tell you that either,” Draco said for the first time.

“Well,” Dumbledore murmured from behind his desk. “If you don’t tell us who took you, we’ll have to stay here until you do.”

Harry sighed in frustration. “Don’t you care that you could be putting someone else in trouble?” he asked angrily, not caring if he hurt the old man. He was being purposefully vindictive. “Is it because _you_ weren’t the one who saved us?”

“Potter!” Snape snapped, angered by the young man’s insolence, but Dumbledore held up his hand.

“The fact is, Mr. Potter, you were taken - without permission - and yet the wards didn’t go off. I want to know why.”

Harry was momentarily speechless. “You arrogant prick. You want to know because you can’t take the credit,” Harry exploded, shocked by the arrogance the old man was showing. “I’ll tell you this. The wards let her take me because I went with her willingly, you sanctimonious son of a bitch. And I’m not telling you who she is just so you can feel better knowing she’ll get in trouble.”

“Language, Mr. Potter,” Snape drawled, though he realized the boy was right. It was so unlike Dumbledore to press a matter, especially if it was supposed to remain secret.

“Who is she, Mr. Potter?”

“You know something I’ve noticed? You don’t call me _‘Mr. Potter’_ unless you’re not getting your way,” Harry murmured, eyes narrowed. “Are you afraid I won’t fight him like you want? Afraid she told me something you don’t want me to find out about?” When Dumbledore didn’t say anything, Harry laughed bitterly. “I’m right.”

“Her name, please.”

“No.”

Suddenly a small girl appeared, surrounded by lightning, and everyone heard her scream in pain. She didn’t look too good. Her clothes were singed here and there and she bore quite a few red marks on her face, hands and what they could see of her arms beneath the cuffs. 

She looked at the young men for a few seconds, her eyes glazed and barely focused, before her eyes closed and she collapsed on the floor. 

Both boys ran over to her, but only Harry dared to pick her up. “What happened?” he asked softly, but she didn’t even open her eyes.

* * *

“What happened to this child?” Madam Pomfrey demanded, looking down at the girl Harry had carried into the infirmary.

“We don’t know. I was hoping you could tell us,” Harry said, laying Sirel down on the nearest bed. Behind him were Draco, Professors Snape, Lupin, and McGonagall. For some odd reason, Dumbledore had chosen to remain behind in his office with the Weasleys. 

Harry didn’t care. He actually preferred it that way. He really didn’t want to deal with the Headmaster right now. “All I know is that she was attacked by lightning in the Headmaster’s office just now.”

She looked up from Harry to look at the Professors in surprise. All three nodded their confirmation. “Well that would be somewhere to start. Now. Everyone out.” She glared at Harry when he refused to move and then at Draco, when all he did was cross his arms and stand beside Harry.

“Potter, Malfoy, she needs room to do the examination. Hallway. Now.” Snape’s tone brooked no argument and both young men reluctantly went into the hallway to wait.

“Now that she’s obviously been found out, you can tell us who she is,” Snape murmured, crossing his arms and looking at both young men, clearly waiting for an answer.

“I’d like to wait until we know she’s going to be alright before I say anything, Sir,” Harry said, glancing over at the closed door, his attention not really on the three Professors, who were waiting impatiently for answers.

Snape sighed impatiently, but realized he’d have to wait no matter how much he yelled at the two standing in front of him. Neither was paying much attention to the adults anyway. “Fine, but I expect answers.”

* * *

A half hour later, Madam Pomfrey opened the door and beckoned them back in, closing the door behind them. “Whatever happened to her, whatever was done, has put her mind in total shock. She’s also got more than burns on her, too. Who is she and what happened to her?” she asked the group.

“I’m afraid we won’t find that out until she wakes up,” Snape murmured, looking over at the girl on the bed, then at the young men. “Follow me to my office,” he ordered them and led the way out of the infirmary, not looking back to see if they were following him or not.

“How long do you think she’ll be out?” Harry asked her, Draco standing beside him.

“It might be a couple of hours. If she wakes up before you get back, I’ll send for you.” 

Harry nodded, looked over at the bed and followed behind Snape. Draco followed behind Harry, following his lead.

* * *

“Who is she, Potter?” Snape asked when four of them were settled in his office, McGonagall having returned to report to Dumbledore, which made Harry want to scream in frustration. Did no one else see the old man as a manipulative old git? He’d already cast _Muffliato_ , in case someone was eavesdropping.

“We don’t really know, sir. All we know is that her name is Sirel and that she is – was, I guess – a History Guardian. She told us that what she did - help us, that is - was against her kind’s code, that she could get into a lot of trouble if they found out she’d helped us out of our predicaments,” Draco said when Harry didn’t answer him right away. “Don’t worry, Harry, we can trust Severus, and I’m sure you trust Professor Lupin.”

“Well I guess she got found out,” Harry growled out, glaring at the floor. “What I’d like to know is how?”

“What the-” Snape exclaimed when he looked up and saw a strange man standing behind Harry. Harry and Lupin spun around to face the stranger, who only looked down at Harry.

“ _You_ were the ones she was supposed to watch, you know,” he told Harry and Draco, his voice as heavily accented as Sirel. “But I think you knew that after a little, didn’t you?”

Harry just blinked at him, wondering just what the stranger expected them to say. “Who are you?” he asked instead, figuring he didn’t need to answer a question the other obviously knew the answer to.

The stranger smiled but didn’t answer. “I’ll tell you this. This is to be part of her punishment. She is yours to care for, Harry Potter. Yours as well, Draco Malfoy. Protect her well because she still doesn’t know what dangers your world holds. She’s still young and very innocent, even by our standards.”

“How old is she?” Draco asked curiously, coming to stand beside Harry.

“In our years, she would be five. That’s all I’ll answer, because you see, unlike her, I can resist answering questions I don’t want to answer. Her knowledge will also be severely limited. She won’t be able to tell you as much as you wanted when you first wanted answers. It’s more to protect her than you,” he told the young men and then he was gone.

“So,” Snape murmured after a few minutes of silence. “I guess you were right about not saying anything, though I think they found out anyway. Was she the one who helped you out?”

Harry turned to look at Draco and nodded his answer. “I wonder what alerted them to the change?” Harry looked over at Snape. “Sir, can we speak frankly here without anyone hearing what we’re saying?”

Snape looked at the boys in surprise, pulled out his wand and cast a silent spell to keep whatever was being said between them, between them. 

“Did you know my father’s house was still mine, sir?” Snape’s surprise was clear to see. “I think Dumbledore placed a spell on the house to keep it invisible to the rest of the Wizarding world,” Harry told Draco, who nodded slowly as the implications of the statement meant.

“That’s why we weren’t bothered by anyone. Sirel must’ve called Dobby to the house which is why he was there,” Draco murmured in accord with Harry.

“You mean to tell me that the Potter residence is still under the Potter name?” Lupin asked Harry in wonder. “How unusual. Why would Dumbledore hide this from everyone?”

“Maybe because he knew that if _I_ knew I had somewhere else to go, I wouldn’t stay with the Dursleys?” Harry asked knowingly. “Why would I go back to get tortured by my uncle and cousin if I didn’t have to?”

“Tortured? How long has this been going on?” Snape asked, feeling like he would be surprised for the rest of the year.

“Since I could walk and do chores, sir, and something tells me Dumbledore knew about that, too, but didn’t do anything. Just like I think he knew about Draco going through the same thing but did nothing.”

“So, then, what do we do with our new charge?” Draco asked Harry.


	11. 11. Hogwart's Newest Addition

Chapter 11 – Hogwart's Newest Addition

Harry looked at Draco, thinking. “Professor? Is there a way we could get quarters for us and Sirel? We can’t subject her to the rest of the school, at least not until she’s ready for it. And I don’t really want Dumbledore to get his hands on her either. I don’t trust him as much as I once did.”

Snape’s eyes narrowed in thought. “I might know of some quarters that no one’s using at the moment. But how do we get them ready without alerting Dumbledore?” he murmured, looking at the ceiling in thought.

“I know how,” Harry said with a smile. “Dobby!”

The house-elf Apparated into the room with a loud pop at the mention of his name. “Yes, Harry Potter? What can Dobby do for you today?”

Harry looked at Snape, eyebrows raised in question. “Dobby,” the professor said, “can you prepare the southeast tower rooms for Harry and Draco? Make sure all three rooms are prepared as they’re going to be looking after a new addition. Also, they’re going to need all their belonging from their Houses. Please make sure they’re retrieved as soon as possible.”

“Little Mistress is back, sir?” Dobby asked Harry, eyes bright with happiness. “Dobby will go right away!”

“But, Dobby, you can’t tell anyone where we’ll be. No one,” Harry ordered before the house-elf could Apparate. “Otherwise the little Mistress won’t be safe.”

“Of course, sir. No one will harm her while Dobby is here, sir,” he said fiercely and Apparated to the tower to get it ready.

“Well I guess that answers the question of who was the one who called the house-elf to help us out this summer,” Draco murmured with a small smile. “What’s the password to the portrait and where is it?”

“When you’re ready, come find me and I’ll take you there.”

“Can we go visit Sirel now?” he asked Snape, who nodded and uncast the Muffliato spell.

“We’ll talk about this again,” he warned the young men before they left with Lupin.

* * *

When they got down to the infirmary, Lupin bid them a good evening and promised to visit them when he could. Madam Pomfrey was in her office doing some paperwork, so Harry motioned for Draco to go check on Sirel while he went in to talk to the nurse. “Is she well enough to move?” Harry asked when the nurse looked up at him.

“Well, I can’t see why not, but I’d rather she stayed here for a while longer. Why?”

“We have to get her settled in and I figured the less people who see her, the less likely she’d be frightened of all the bustling,” Harry said at his most convincing, of course, it was actually true.

The nurse looked like she wanted to argue with him, but she knew how rowdy the kids could be and if you weren’t used to it, it could be very disturbing. “Fine, but I want you to bring her back if there’s the _least_ problem,” she ordered sternly.

“I will,” Harry promised. He wasn’t about to gamble with Sirel’s life. He walked out of the office and went over to the bed. “Let’s take her to the room. I’ll feel better when she’s safe from prying eyes,” he told Draco as he picked her up. Poor thing didn’t weigh much, but he was sure Dobby would take care of that. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“Here we are,” Snape murmured, standing in front of the portrait to the tower.

“Password?” the man in the portrait asked gruffly, glaring at the three of them.

“Heir apparent,” the Potions master murmured softly so his voice didn’t carry beyond the three of them and the portrait. “And, Cornelius, no one else is to go through here without our permission. Not even the Headmaster,” Snape murmured once the young men were inside. Cornelius nodded, knowing Snape would explain everything in his office later.

Once inside, he found them looking around the tower’s living room. Harry gently put Sirel on the couch, pulling the throw blanket over her so she wouldn’t get cold, though the fireplace was throwing off enough heat to take care of that. “Whose tower is this supposed to be for, sir?” Harry asked, looking up at the walls again.

“You know, Potter, this is the first time in all the years I’ve know you that you’ve called me ‘sir’. What happened to you this summer?” Snape asked after a few minutes of looking at Harry speculatively.

“I found out who I can and can’t trust. Besides, Draco and I talked a lot during our time at my house,” Harry told Snape, looking over at the teacher he’d hated for so long and wondered if that too had been Dumbledore’s doing. “Sirel needs us to be allies more than enemies. Dumbledore’s actions in his office proved one more thing to me. I can’t trust him.”

Snape looked at Harry, weighing what Harry had said carefully, before he nodded. “These quarters are for visiting wizards and witches of other countries. A different teacher changes the password every year for every tower like this one. This year, this one was mine to change. Not even Dumbledore knows what the password is, and no one can come in through the fireplace without your permission first. Be careful about that. Once they have permission, they have it for the remainder of your stay. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, _both_ of you. Have Dobby stay with her all day so she won’t be alone.” He nodded to them before he swept out of the tower.

Both young men watched their teacher leave before going off to explore their new quarters. Pretty soon they found Dobby in the smaller bedroom, putting the finishing touches on the room’s walls. They were a very light blue, like Sirel’s eyes, and white like the clouds. “ _Very good_ , Dobby,” Harry murmured in admiration, looking at the house-elf’s handiwork. Dobby blushed at the praise. “Dobby, I have a favor to ask you,” Harry said, kneeling down so he could look the house-elf on his own level.

“Anything, Harry Potter. Dobby will do _anything_ for you,” Dobby said proudly, eyes luminescent.

“Tomorrow, I need you to stay with Sirel so she’s not alone. No one comes in except me, Draco and Professor Snape, for now.” 

Dobby nodded, face serious. “Dobby will protect the little Mistress, even with his life if necessary,” he told Harry and left the room to clean the next room.

Harry walked downstairs to see if Sirel was awake and found her sitting up with Draco, talking softly. She looked up as she heard Harry come down the stairs. “I didn’t think they’d find out,” she said in a small voice, pulling the blanket tighter around herself, shivering a little. “I was so careful.”

He sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap. “It’s okay. We’ll take care of you until everything works itself out,” he murmured against her hair. “Tomorrow we have classes,” he told her and felt her stiffen in fright, “but Dobby said he’d stay with you until classes are done. That way you won’t be alone. Do you want me to bring you some books or something?”

“I don’t know,” she murmured, and he could hear the tears in her voice. Draco rose and went to sit beside them on the couch. “I’ve never done anything but the lessons they gave me to do. What am I supposed to do with myself?” she asked, sounding lost. 

Harry held her closer, rocking her until she fell asleep again.


	12. 12. Making Friends

Chapter 12 – Making Friends

The next morning, Harry went down to the Great Hall, leaving Sirel with Draco. He was going to need his friends behind him if he was going to make sure Sirel was safe from any underhanded manipulations. So, it was with this thought that he sat down beside Hermione, knowing this might not be as easy as he hoped it would be.

She looked at him in surprise. He dimly noted Ginny shoot him an angry look, but ignored her for now. That was something else he'd have to deal with, but not today.

After his outburst the previous night, he couldn’t really blame her. “I need to ask you something, but not here,” he motioned for her to follow him. 

She frowned at him, wondering what he was up to, but too curious to refuse to follow. He led her to an empty classroom and closed the door. “I need your help.”

“My help?” she asked suspiciously. “Does this have anything to do with why you weren’t in the Common Room last night? Ron said you didn’t even sleep in your bed, and that your things were gone this morning.”

“Yes, it does. Draco and I-"

“Draco?” He watched as her eyebrows rose at the mention of their worst enemy’s name. “You and _Draco_? What’s going on Harry? What are you doing with Draco Malfoy?”

“Draco and I were together this summer, recovering from what our respective families did to us. But that’s for another time. Draco and I have… a new addition.”

“A new addition? What the hell does _that_ mean? Are you _pregnant_ or something?” she asked, frowning in confusion. As her own words sank in, her eyebrows rose. "Are you... and he..?" she asked in horror, hoping he'd laugh at her and tell her she was being silly.

“If you’d stop interrupting me, maybe I could tell you what’s going on,” he snapped impatiently, looking down at his watch. _There is no more time to talk to her, damn it,_ he thought to himself. _Why does she have to know_ every little _detail? Why can’t she wait until a person’s done talking before asking questions?_ He took a calming breath before he continued. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. Have lunch with us and I’ll show you what I’m talking about.” Grabbing his book bag, he left her gaping at his back and headed towards Potions class. 

Only then did he realize he hadn't really answered her question about what was between Draco and him and chuckled. _I wonder if she'll figure it out or if she'll forget about that once she meets Sirel._

He was still smiling when he met Draco at the last corridor. 

"What are you smiling about?" Draco asked him in surprise, eyebrows raised.

"Hermione asked if we were lovers, though not in so many words," Harry said his smile getting bigger.

"And?"

"I never answered her question, actually. I'm wondering if she'll remember that. She seems to think I'm pregnant."

Draco burst out laughing. "P-pregnant!" He had to hold his side for a few seconds before he could control himself.

Harry waited patiently, amused that Draco would actually laugh in public. “How is she?” he asked.

Draco took a deep breath before he answered. “Still a little scared, but then I can’t blame her, really. Dobby showed up before I left and was entertaining her with some magic tricks. I never realized how good house-elves were with kids,” Draco said with a soft smile.

“Hermione’ll be joining us for lunch so she’ll meet Sirel then. I didn’t really have time to tell her anything or ask her if she’d help us,” Harry told him as they neared the door to the classroom. “She kept interrupting me with pointless questions."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Draco told him with a shrug. "She comes across as a know-it-all, after all.

More students were coming down the corridor for class, filing silently into the room. “Do we sit together or do we keep up appearances?”

Draco shrugged. “Who cares what anyone says anymore,” he said and entered the room, sitting down at the table Harry usually sat at.

“What’s _he_ doing here?” Ron sneered, looking angrily from Harry to Draco.

Harry decided to take the bull by the horns… so to speak. “I invited him,” Harry told his best friend, sitting down between him and his boyfriend, acting as a shield for the storm to come.

Draco resisted the urge to smirk at the look of incredulity that was on Ron’s face as Harry’s words sank in.

“You _what_!" Ron sputtered, shocked by the implications. "You can’t be serious!” The other students were starting to turn to look their way. Even Snape was glowering at the three of them from the front of the classroom.

“Sit down, Ron,” Harry murmured, frowning at the red head.

“Not until you explain what’s going on,” Ron said angrily, his face becoming as red as his hair.

“ _Mr. Weasley_ , if you’re quite done,” Snape drawled sarcastically, making some of the students snicker at them, waiting for the real fun to begin. “Five points from Gryffindor for disrupting the class. Now sit down.”

Ron grabbed his books and moved two seats further, slamming his books down on the table again. Harry sighed in annoyance and turned his attention to the front of the class. 

He felt more than heard Hermione slide into the seat beside Ron, giving her boyfriend a questioning look before she looked at Harry, noticing Draco for the first time. 

Comprehension dawned on her face. She narrowed her eyes in thought as she realized Harry hadn't answered her question about what was between the two of them. She'd have to remember to ask him that later.

There was no more time to contemplate anything else. Snape was already talking.

* * *

Harry sent Draco on ahead, not wanting to create another scene, in case Ron came out before Hermione, but it seemed his luck was good, this time. She came out of the classroom before the redhead, so he led her towards the tower.

He smiled when she tried to ask questions, but only told her to wait until they were at the tower.

Cornelius glared at her as they drew closer. 

“This is Hermione, and she’ll be allowed to come inside,” Harry told the portrait. Cornelius sniffed in disapproval, but said nothing. “Heir apparent.”

The portrait swung open and he led her inside. Harry was attacked as soon as he cleared the portrait hole. He laughed as Sirel squealed when he swung her up, throwing her up in the air. “How was your morning?” he asked as she threw her arms around his neck.

“Not too bad. Dobby created a room for me to play in. Wanna see?” she asked excitedly before she noticed Hermione. “Who’s she?”

“She’s a friend. Hermione, this is Sirel,” Harry told the stunned brunette. “Has Dobby brought lunch yet?”

“It’s on the table,” the little girl told him, watching Hermione. “I remember you. You’re the one who likes books, aren’t you?”

Hermione was too stunned to respond.

_I finally found a way to shut her up_ , he thought in amusement. “Yes, she is. Let’s sit down and eat,” Harry murmured, smiling at the accurate description, and sat Sirel down on a chair. 

He motioned for Hermione to take a chair as well. He could tell by her narrowed eyes that she wanted badly to ask who’s little girl she was, and how she knew about Hermione, but didn’t dare ask it in front of Sirel.

Throughout lunch, they watched Sirel push her food around her plate until she gave an impatient sight and dropped her fork with a loud clatter. “You might as well tell who I am. She’s giving me a headache with all the emotions rolling off her,” she snapped and jumped off her chair, walking away from the three teenagers who watched her in surprise.

Harry shook his head and looked back at Draco who looked just as amused and confused as he felt. “Sirel was the one who helped us escape from our… prisons,” he told her simply. “What I want to know from you is, would you help us teach her how to read and write?”

“Why would she need to learn that now? Doesn’t she already know some of it?” Hermione asked curiously.

“She’s not from here. We’re not quite sure where she’s from, actually, but we were told to keep her safe. We also don’t want her to be too bored. I figured if we taught her our ways, and if she can read our books, maybe she’ll be able to learn on her own instead of having to follow us around all the time,” Harry told her, watching her reaction.

Hermione looked thoughtfully after Sirel for a few minutes. “I think I still have some simple books I could start her off on. I’ll bring them later tonight, after supper,” she told him, nodding finally and got up, picking up her books. “If we don’t get moving, we’re going to be late for our next class.”

“I have a free period, so I’ll spend it here with Sirel,” Draco told them, sitting back in his chair.

Harry nodded and waited for Hermione to reach the portrait before he leaned over and kissed Draco on the lips. “See you later,” he murmured and with a wink, he took off after Hermione.

Draco found Sirel in the room Dobby had created for her, sitting on the floor, which looked almost like sand. Only when he stepped inside the room did he realize it _was_ sand. Then he noticed that the wall she was facing had been spelled to move and emit sounds.

It gave a feeling of being at the beach, he noted as he watched waves crashing against the beach. There were even a few seagulls gliding on a non-existent wind.

“There are more people here than at home," Sirel murmured, though she hadn’t turned to see who had come in. "This helps to quiet all the feelings of dread and excitement I’m getting.”

He simply went and sat down beside her. 

“Except for you and Harry,” she told him, turning to look at him finally. “You’ve both got more control over your emotions.”

“Do we?” he asked gently, looking at her.

She nodded and crawled onto his lap, snuggling against him with a contented sigh. “When I told Dobby about that, he made me this room and showed me this scenery. The noise helps me to center myself. What’s it called?”

“This is a beach. The noise is waves crashing against the shore, also known as surf. Have you never seen the ocean?” he asked her, running his fingers through her soft hair.

She shook her head. “We don’t really have that at home. Of course, there isn’t much except for the building we live in. I like it here. There’s so much more color. So much more variety.”

“You don’t have color at home?” Draco asked, wondering just how much she’d tell him about where she was from.

She shook her head. “Only black and white. Mostly white.” She was quiet for a few minutes. “I think it’s so it doesn’t interfere with what we do. If there was too much to look at, we couldn’t do our jobs properly. There’d be too much distraction.”

“And what you’re getting from everyone? You mean their thoughts?” he asked, wondering if she could read minds.

She shook her head and he felt himself relax, not realizing he’d tensed up. “It’s more like their feelings. Like this morning, right before the bell rang. There were a lot of feelings of dread and excitement. After the bell, everything was quiet for a while, then it came back. Medea told me once that I have to learn to control my Empathy, otherwise, it’ll just overrun me and I’ll lose who I am. It’ll be like drowning. I _had_ learned, but there’s so many more people here. It’s almost like I have to relearn everything again.”

“Is that why you said Hermione was giving you a headache?”

She nodded and sighed contentedly. She loved the feel of his fingers running through her hair. It was so peaceful and calming. “Her emotions are very heavy and it was harder to block out because she was looking right at me at the same time. I just had to leave the room.”

He thought about that for a few minutes, looking out at the waves, then looked down at her. “Are you getting hungry?” he asked her gently.

She suddenly realized that without the constant emotional upheaval Hermione had been causing, her stomach had settled enough for it to register the lack of food. She looked up at him and nodded.

"Come on, then. You can eat and I’ll do my homework.” _And I need to talk to Harry about this_ , he thought to himself.


	13. 13. Revelations

Chapter 13 – Revelations

“We need to talk about Sirel,” Draco told Harry that night as they sat doing their homework. Thankfully, Sirel was already in bed, sleeping.

“What happened?” Harry asked, looking up from the Potions assignment he was working on.

“She told me she’s an Empath.” At Harry’s blank look, Draco sighed. “An Empath can feel other people’s emotions.”

“Really?” Harry murmured in surprise. “So that’s why she reacted to Hermione the way she did.”

“Exactly,” Draco said with a nod. At least he caught on quickly. “We need to figure out a way to help her control it. She told me if she doesn't, she’ll lose herself, said it would feel like she was drowning. We can’t let that happen.”

“How do we help?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d have some ideas,” Draco said with a shrug.

Harry sighed and stretched tiredly. Draco walked over to him and began to massage his shoulders. “Gods but that feels good,” Harry murmured, relaxing against the back of his chair.

“Come on, Harry. Time for bed,” Draco murmured, his massaging becoming suggestive, and smiled wickedly when Harry responded. 

“Yes,” Harry murmured huskily and followed Draco upstairs to their room. They hadn’t told anyone about this, but then no one _needed_ to know. "Time for bed..."

* * *

Over the next few days, Harry could feel Ron glowering at him and Draco in whatever class they shared until one day, Hermione lost patience with her boyfriend, leaned over, whispered something to him at the end of one particular class and left in a huff.

Sirel was also becoming exasperated with Hermione. Every time the brunette came over, she insisted on giving the little girl one book after another, which Sirel took a few minutes to look at and then give them back with an irritated sigh.

Like last night…

_“Done.”_

_Hermione looked at her in surprise. “Really?”_

_“ _Please_ ,” Sirel said in disgust. She’d had enough of the kids' books Hermione was getting her to read. “These are for _babies _. You want to challenge me, give me something else.”_

_Harry and Draco laughed at the look on Hermione’s face as she put the book away._

It was a week since they had talked about Sirel’s problem and neither he nor Draco were anywhere close to an idea of how to help Sirel. And the little girl was spending too much time in her calming room as she’d come to refer to it whenever she told them where she was going.

Harry and Draco's relationship was blossoming as well. They'd gone from heavy petting to actually rubbing against each other. The first time had been amazing...

Ron sat down in Defense Against the Dark Arts class that afternoon, startling Harry out of his thoughts with its unexpectedness. “Are you really friends with Malfoy?” he asked with a sour look on his face.

“Yes, Ron. I really _am_ friends with Draco,” Harry murmured. _I would’ve thought it was rather obvious by now,_ he refrained from adding. _Though we're a lot more than friends, and I won’t be telling_ you _that either._ He waited for the obvious retort and wasn’t disappointed.

“ _Why?_ He’s been nothing but a foul git to us since we started school,” Ron demanded in exasperation and anger.

“Because we _are_. If you’re willing to be civil to Draco, you can come and visit with Hermione, and meet Sirel. If you’re not going to be civil, then I suggest you don’t come near the tower rooms we share,” Harry murmured before Professor Lupin entered the room, which effectively put an end to any more conversation. Though from the look on Ron’s face, he doubted that being friends with Draco was the last thing he would be.

He wished his once best friend would stop and actually _think_ things through instead of blowing up at the least provocations and then apologizing profusely afterwards when he _had_ calmed down. It was really getting irritating.

* * *

“Harry, please stay behind,” Remus murmured softly so the other students wouldn’t hear him as he walked by Harry’s desk at the end of class. He didn’t want the others to think Harry was in trouble, after all. “We need to talk.”

Weary, Harry waited for the last student to file out of the classroom, taking his time to put his books into his book bag. He looked back at the werewolf when he was done. He waited to see what Remus would say.

“Come upstairs with me, Harry. Have some tea,” Remus told him, leading the way up the stairs.

Harry sighed but followed behind Remus, wondering what this was going to be about and how long it would take. He wanted to get back and spend some time with Draco and Sirel. It took the werewolf about fifteen minutes to _finally_ get to the point where he was ready to tell the raven-haired young man what he wanted to talk about.

“Harry, have you thought about how you’re going to face You-Know-Who?” he asked, watching Harry carefully.

Harry shrugged indifferently. “Right now, Professor, I think it’s more important to face each day as they come. When the day I have to fight him comes, it won’t matter what the plans are. We’ll either die or kill him. Draco and I are practicing what we’ve learned here with Hermione along with things we aren’t learning in class until later this year. And at the same time, we’re teaching Sirel our ways.”

“Yes,” Remus said, frowning in thought, realizing he hadn’t even asked Harry about the child since the day he’d last seen her. “How is the little girl?”

“As far as we can tell, she seems to be coping extremely well. But then, even if something _was_ wrong, I doubt we’d know about it. We don’t know what to look for and she wouldn’t tell us if something was wrong. I think she’s trying to protect us, like she did this summer. It’s almost like she thinks she’s still on the job. Why don’t you come and talk to her? Maybe you’ll pick up on something we can’t see,” Harry asked him hopefully.

Remus could hear the worry in Harry’s voice and the wolf in him stirred. One of his self-made pack was in trouble and it wanted to help in any way it could. “When do you want me to come by?”

“If you have time, we could go now. I’m sure she’s bored to tears from being alone with Dobby all afternoon.” Remus nodded, smiling gently at the only offspring of the Marauders, his last remaining link to his best friends.

Harry led the way out of Remus’ office and down the corridor towards the tower rooms he shared with Draco and Sirel. He introduced Remus to the portrait and murmured the password. The portrait swung open easily.

Hermione and Draco were already inside, but there was no sign of Sirel. Harry looked at Draco with a raised eyebrow. The blond only pointed towards the room Sirel hid in whenever she was overwhelmed by emotions.

“What happened?” Harry asked, frowning towards the room in question. Draco pointed at Hermione, who had an embarrassed look on her face.

“I’m sorry, Harry. Ron decided to pick a fight and followed me all the way here, refusing to listen to reason. I tried to calm down before I came in, but it was already too late. Sirel had already gone and hid in her calming room.”

Harry sighed in frustration. “And she’d been doing so well, too. I guess I’ll have to talk to Ron again,” he murmured angrily, moving towards the room Sirel was in, but Remus placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

“Let me talk to her. Perhaps I can help her,” the werewolf murmured when Harry looked at him in surprise.

“Be careful with her. She’s a very powerful Empath. The problem is we have no idea how to help her control it,” Harry warned the professor, who nodded and walked over to the room and knocked politely.

“Come in,” came the muffled answer from the other side of the door.

His keen hearing picked up the sound of sniffling. Cautiously, he opened the door and was surprised by the sight that lay on the other side. Whatever he thought he’d see inside, he hadn’t expected it would be a beach scene.

“Would it be alright if we talk?” he asked from the door, smiling gently when she whipped around at the unfamiliar voice. He watched her watching him. “May I come in?” he asked when it seemed like there wouldn’t be an end to the staring contest.

She nodded hesitantly and watched him warily. _Who is this stranger?_ she wondered. He was familiar, but she couldn’t place him.

Remus walked over to sit beside her, impressed with the room. He could feel her eyes on him as he took a handful of sand and let it run through his fingers. He was surprised when she spoke first.

“You’re the wolf man, aren’t you?” she asked, little face alive with curiosity.

He looked at her, even more surprised that she even knew what he was. “Yes. How did you know?”

“I saw you with Harry when you came to teach here the first time,” she told him, looking at her buried toes. “I liked the way you spoke to Harry back then. You could calm him easily, just by using words. You have a very soothing personality.”

He gaped at her, eyes wide. “How..?”

She shrugged, sighed and laid her chin on her knees, wrapping her arms around them. “I guess they didn’t tell you, then,” she murmured tiredly. She wondered just how many more times she’d have to explain this and to how many more people. “I used to be a Guardian of History. We record what happens throughout history, no matter how trivial. We’re not supposed to interfere, though.”

“Is that what happened? You interfered?” he asked softly after a few minutes of silence as he digested what she’d said. He felt like he’d always be surprised with this little girl, that he probably would never get the upper hand when dealing with her. She knew too much for one so young.

She nodded and looked up at him. “You have your emotions under tight rein,” she said suddenly, frowning in surprise. “I barely get anything from you.”

“Yes, I’ve had a lot of practice at it. Not everyone wants to see someone like me happy, for some reason.” His tone was slightly bitter, but he’d made peace with that a long time ago.

Her frown deepened. “You shouldn’t say things like that. I agree with Harry, I don’t understand everyone’s prejudices against wolf people.” She turned and looked at the waves once more, sighing tiredly.

He didn’t say anything, just watched her for a few moments. “Harry tells me you’re having a hard time blocking out everyone’s emotions,” he said when it didn’t seem like she was going to say anything more.

She nodded then shrugged. “I’m getting better. It’s just Hermione and Harry’s red-haired friend. Sometimes they fight over the _stupidest_ things. He feels too heavily. It’s like being smothered. Then he picks at her until she gets riled up and then, like tonight, she comes here and…” She sighed and pressed her forehead to her knees, eyes closed. “I’m just getting so tired of them and their out-of-control emotions. I wish someone would talk some sense into that boy’s head so he’ll leave Hermione be. There’s the odd times when she comes here…” She shook her head a little, not taking her head off her knees. “I still get a slight headache, but at least I can still stand it.”

Remus watched her carefully, frowning at the way she looked so… wilted. It was the only way to describe it. He wanted to scoop up this child and hold her until she felt better. He was surprised by that, actually. Never had he felt this protective, not even of Harry. “If you want, I can help you with your Empathy, and anything else you need help with. Would you like that?” he asked her softly. 

She looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”

He nodded and smiled reassuringly. “Really.”

“How?”

“Close your eyes.” He waited until she closed them. “Now, pretend you’re building a wall around you. Make it as thick as you can. Tell me when you’re done.” He sat and waited patiently while she built her wall, wondering if she’d get it the first time.

“Done,” she murmured a few minutes later.

“Alright, tell me if you feel this.” Deliberately, he sent her an overwhelming feeling of sadness and loss, eyes watching her intently for strain, ready to stop if it became too much for her. He saw her frown a little. “Did you feel that?”

“A little,” she said and looked over at him as he cut it off, satisfied by her quick grasp of what she’d never done before. “How strong was that?” she asked curiously.

“Very strong. I wanted to see if your wall was strong enough to withstand Ron’s emotional outbursts. Do you think you’re ready to try it with Hermione?” he asked curiously.

She frowned once more, wondering if she was ready for this. “I suppose,” she mumbled, making Remus smile encouragingly down at her. It didn’t matter where they were from, children would never trust that an adult knew best sometimes.

He rose to his feet and waited for her. “Just remember to make sure that the wall is up at all times and it’ll block whatever you don’t want to let in,” he told her as she got up.

“What if I want to know what they feel, but don’t want to take it down completely?” she asked him curiously.

“Make your wall thinner. Only you can control it, because it’s a part of you.” Remus watched as she thought about that. They stopped at the door and he watched her hesitate slightly before taking a deep breath and opened the door, leaving the room, followed by Remus.

He was glad that she wasn’t letting her fear consume her, but faced it with determination. Sirel squealed in delight when she saw Harry and ran over to him, throwing herself at him, confident that he would catch her.

And catch her he did, laughing. “How was your day?” he asked her, hugging her close.

“Boring. I’m tired of looking at these walls. I’m not used to doing nothing all day. I need to _do_ something. Aren't there any classes I can join?” she asked pleadingly.

“Unfortunately, classes here are only attended when kids reach the age of eleven,” Harry told her regretfully, pushing her hair out of her face.

She sighed in disappointment. “I tried to do some of the things I used to be able to do, but they cut out quite a few of my powers.” She turned in Harry’s arms and settled more comfortably on his lap.

“Which ones did they cut out?” Draco asked, leaning forward in interest. “We know about the disappearing one…”

“That would be teleporting, which I can’t do anymore,” she said with a shrug. “As well as Invisibility, seeing the future, Scanning, Animal Control, Fire Making – which was a stupid power considering I never used it anyway – Shielding, and Mind Stun, which is what I used on that brute you call an uncle,” she told Harry.

Remus and Hermione whistled at the list of things she _used_ to do. “And that’s only what you _can’t_ do?” Hermione asked in surprise. Sirel nodded, shrugging indifferently. “So what _can_ you do?”

“Well, I know I have Empathy,” she said ruefully. “The ones I haven’t tried yet are Healing, Impression, Energy Manipulation, Fetching, and Sending,” Sirel said with a nod as she realized she hadn’t forgotten any power.

“Do most of your people have that many powers?” Remus asked thoughtfully, frowning in concern. Perhaps it was a good thing Voldemort didn’t know about this race, or he might try to recruit them to his side, which wouldn’t be a good thing. Not a good thing at all.

“Oh no,” she said, not seeing the look of relief on Remus’ face, which froze when she continued. “Some of them have more. Some are so old, even they don’t know how long they’ve lived, that power is called Immortality,” Sirel said matter-of-factly, missing the looks they all shot at her. “When do you think we can eat? I’m hungry.”


	14. 14. Trial and Error

Chapter 14 – Trial and Error

“When do you think we can eat? I’m hungry.”

“Just one or two questions more,” Hermione said, curious about something Sirel had said. “What’s Impression?”

“Oh, it’s when you can get something off items that you touch. Kind of like a person with Second Sight can,” Sirel answered her, reaching for an apple on the table, tossing it from one hand to the other. “You can even see the past… up to a point.”

“What about Fetching?” Remus asked.

“The best way to describe this is by showing you. I already showed Harry and Draco.” The boys looked stunned and surprised.

“You did?” Draco asked curiously.

Sirel nodded. “When I got your sticks?” The boys looked at her blankly. She sighed in exasperation and held out her hand. “This,” she said and in her had was Draco’s wand.

“That,” Harry said as she handed Draco his wand. “Is called a wand.”

“Energy Control?” Remus asked her.

Sirel smiled, almost like she’d known someone would ask her that question, so instead of answering, she looked at the apple in her hand and concentrated a little. The apple rose out of her hand and hovered about a foot before it moved through the air to land into the bowl with the others. 

Everyone was silent as they watched the apple.

She smiled sweetly at them, waiting for their reactions. “It’s like your wand magic. Only your wand just helps you focus your magic into doing what you want it to do. When you do wandless magic, you’ll be able to do the same energy control I just did.”

“Wow.” That was from Draco.

“So then, you can use a wand?” Hermione asked curiously.

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried, actually,” Sirel admitted with a shrug. “I’ve never had to use a wand to do what I do.”

Remus looked concerned. “Harry,” he murmured softly and motioned for him to follow him a ways. “You too, Draco.”

Harry left Sirel sitting on his chair talking to Hermione. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked when they were out of earshot.

“We might have a problem,” Remus murmured.

“How so?” Draco asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“For us, we use a wand to cast most of our spells. Sirel doesn’t really _use_ spells. All she needs to do is think of what she wants and it gets done. Do you realize what would happen if others were to find out about that?” Remus asked, watching their reactions.

Harry frowned at that. “I see what you mean. Especially if whoever finds out tries to use her for something Dark.”

“Yeah, but we can’t keep her locked up in here forever. It’s like she said. She’s bored. There’s nothing for her to do. So what if we teach her what we do? She could even just sit in and listen to what happens in the classrooms. We have to trust her judgment. All we can do is warn her about being careful and hope for the best,” Draco said with a shrug. “Were we any different when we were her age?”

“True, but she can’t attend all the classes. Not every teacher will want a child that young in their classroom,” Remus murmured with a frown. “Let me see what I can do. Let’s not say anything just yet to her… just in case.”

Harry and Draco agreed. “Let us know what you find out.”

As they walked closer, they heard Hermione’s question about Healing and almost laughed at Sirel’s answer.

“Actually, I was never really good at the healing part. I had to hit into a pillar just to hide the bruise Harry’s uncle gave me. It was accidental, of course, I kind of tripped on the steps.”

“So what’s the Sending power?” Harry asked curiously.

“It’s when you can talk mind to mind with someone else. I just don’t know if you guys can handle it, which is why I haven’t tried it yet.”

“How would you know if we can or can’t handle it?” Hermione asked curiously… and a bit fearfully. What would happen if she tried?

“I don’t know,” Sirel said with a frown. “I can’t even describe what it would or wouldn’t do. The only way to know would be to try. Should I save it for an emergency?” she asked Harry and Draco.

“Yes, I think that would be a good idea, at least until we know more about what it might do,” Remus answered her before either of the young men could. 

Just then, Sirel’s stomach growled loudly, making Sirel blush in embarrassment as the others laughed. “Sorry,” she murmured.

“Well, let’s have supper before Sirel’s stomach decides to crawl out and eat the whole bowl of apples,” Harry said with a chuckle.

* * *

A week after their conversation, Remus sent Harry and Draco an owl requesting a visit. He got a response back that he would be welcomed that night for supper.

“Hello, Mr. Lupin,” Sirel said when he walked in the door and into the living room. She was sitting by the fireplace with a book. The days were becoming cold outside, requiring the need for working fireplaces.

“Hello, Sirel. Are Harry and Draco around yet?” he asked, smiling down at her.

“Not yet, but they should be coming in pretty soon. Would you like to sit down and wait with me?” she asked, motioning towards the chair.

“Yes, thank you.” He sat down and looked around before looking back down at her. “What are you reading?”

She handed him the book, not worried about losing her page. _Apparently she has a good memory for certain things_ , he thought to himself. He took it from her and was surprised with the title. “Standard Book of Spells? Hermione gave this to you?” he asked with a smile.

“I think she’s just curious as to how I’d do with a wand,” Sirel explained with a shrug. “I just don’t get the need for words to get something done.”

Remus laughed and gave her the book back. “If you really want to try it out, let me know and I’ll help you,” he told her.

She tilted her head and frowned slightly, taking the book back. “You enjoy teaching kids, don’t you?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be teaching at all,” Remus told her with a gentle smile.

“No, I don’t think that’s it. You don’t have kids of your own. You don’t think you deserve any, do you?” she asked, surprising Remus yet again.

“Did you sneak peeks at other people’s charges when you weren’t supposed to?” he murmured playfully, keeping a tight rein on his emotions.

“No. It’s just what I’ve observed since I met you. You always have a sadness in your eyes when you watch Harry and Draco interact. You hide it very well, but then, I know what to look for. Habit,” she said with a shrug. “You _do_ know you can’t give your ‘wolf thing’ to your offspring, right?”

“How do you know?” he asked, not daring to hope.

“I… remember someone mentioning it once, in passing,” she said with a frown and shrugged the thought away. They heard the door open and Harry entered with Draco and Hermione. Sirel was about to launch herself at Harry, but stopped when a fourth person appeared. They were both surprised when Ron entered the room behind Hermione.

“Professor!” Harry said happily. “We didn’t expect you this early! Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, thank you. I also have some information about what we spoke of last week."

“We can talk about it after we have some tea,” Harry said, turning to Sirel, surprised he hadn’t been attacked yet. He was beginning to wonder at that, too. She didn’t do that to Draco and he wondered why. “How was your day?” he asked Sirel, kissing the top of her head.

“I’ve read this book twice,” she told him, handing Hermione the book.

“What about the other three books I brought you?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“They’re on the table,” the little girl told her, pointing at the stacked books on the other side of the room.

“Have you tried to read them?” Draco asked. It didn’t even look like she’d opened them.

“They’ve already been read. I finished one this morning, then started on the second about an hour before lunch. A couple of hours later, I started the third.” She looked at the group who were gaping at her. “Is something wrong?”

“You read a total of four books in less than eight hours?” Harry asked incredulously.

“It’s not like I have anything better to do with my time,” Sirel said sarcastically with an indifferent shrug.

“Which reminds me. What are the three of you doing tomorrow?” Remus asked the teenagers, looking up at Harry and Draco in particular.

Harry shrugged and looked at Draco. They hadn’t really had time to discuss it. “Nothing, really. We were thinking of taking Sirel to visit Hogsmeade, just to get her out of these rooms and into the fresh air before it gets too cold. Why?”

Sirel perked up at the mention of going outside. “Really?”

“I’ve special permission to take you, Draco and Sirel on a little side trip. Would it be alright if we change the destination from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley?” Remus smiled at the look on Harry’s face, which was mirrored in Sirel’s. “We have to see just what you can do in order to figure out which classes you’ll take. Which means you’ll need a wand for starters.”

“How many teachers agreed?” Draco asked, wondering if Professor Snape had been asked. 

“Well, there’s Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Firenze, Trelawney, and me. I haven’t had a chance to ask Professor Snape, yet, but I’m sure he won’t mind,” Remus told the group.

“Firenze?” Sirel asked with a frown. The name was familiar somehow.

“He’s a centaur,” Remus told her, wondering at Sirel’s excitement at the mention.

“I would enjoy that, then, but I’ll say no to Trelawney. She wouldn’t know a vision if it came up and bit her in the-“

“Sirel,” Harry said warningly before he went in search of some tea.

“Nose,” she finished, smiling innocently at Harry. “Bit her on the nose.”

Draco coughed to cover a laugh at the look on Sirel’s face and walked over to the fireplace. “Severus?” he asked, wondering if the Potions master was in his quarters yet or not.

“Yes?” came the answer followed, by Severus’ face.

“Wow,” Sirel whispered as she watched.

“Could you come over? We’d like to ask you a question.” Draco never presumed the older man wasn’t busy. The Potions master was forever working on a potion of some kind, after all.

Severus frowned but nodded. “I can visit for a little while. I’ve been meaning to come over anyway.”

Draco nodded and moved away from the fireplace, taking a confused Sirel with him. “Watch this,” he murmured.

A few seconds later, Snape stepped out of the fireplace which had turned green. “Wow,” she murmured, eyes alight with curiosity. “How does it work?” she asked Draco.

“We throw some magical powder into the fireplace and it allows us to go anywhere there’s another fireplace that’s set up to receive us. We’ll try it sometime,” he promised her.

“You wanted to discuss something?” Snape asked Draco after he was done dusting himself off.

“Would you like a cup of tea first?” Harry asked him before Draco could say anything.

“Yes, please,” Snape murmured and accepted the cup Harry handed him. “Thank you.” He turned and sat down on the couch beside Sirel, who’d gone back to sitting beside the fireplace.

“Would it be okay if Sirel joined your class with the other first years? She has nothing to do here and it would occupy her time and mind,” Draco asked after Harry sat down beside him.

Snape frowned in thought. “I’d need to test her first, make sure she’s able to actually keep up with the others, but I can’t see why not.” He looked over at Sirel. “What do you know about Potions?”

“Just what I know from when Harry and Draco were in your class. Oh.” She walked over to the table and took the thickest book out of the pile. She walked over to Snape and showed it to him. “And this,” she finished.

An eyebrow rose at the thickness and he shot Hermione a look before looking at Sirel again. “How long did it take you to read this?” he asked, taking it from the little girl and examining it.

“Well, Hermione gave it to me last night, but I didn’t start it until an hour before lunch,” Sirel told him with a shrug.

“So you’re still reading it, then?” Snape asked her.

“Oh, no. I finished it three hours ago,” Sirel said as she sat down in her seat again.

Snape gaped at her, both eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Why does everyone look at me like that?” Sirel asked with an irritated frown. “It’s not like it’s that complicated a read.”

Even Hermione looked at her in surprise. It had taken her _weeks_ to get through that same book. 

“May I ask you some questions, then?” Snape asked, wanting to know just how much information the little girl had absorbed from the book.

“Sure.”

For the next half hour, Snape asked question after question, which Sirel answered effortlessly. “You know, if she can absorb this much information from a book this accurately, I can’t wait to see what she does in class,” Snape murmured, impressed in spite of himself.

Sirel beamed proudly at the praise.

“So then it’s settled. Tomorrow I’ll take you,” Remus said, nodding to Harry, “Draco and Sirel to Diagon Alley. Sorry, Hermione, Ron, but the less people who come, the less likely we are to attract unwanted attention,” Remus told the two lovebirds.

“That’s okay, Professor Lupin. We’ve got some homework to work on tomorrow, anyway,” Hermione said with a shrug, hiding her disappointment well. She’d wanted to see what they were going to buy the little girl, but then, she’d see it when they got back.

“Good! How many are staying for supper?” Sirel asked happily, seeing Dobby coming their way. Everyone nodded, so Sirel went to meet the house-elf to let him know about the new additions for supper. _I get to go out!_ she thought happily. She wondered if she’d get _any_ sleep tonight.


	15. 15. Diagon Alley

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 15 – Diagon Alley

Early the next morning, Sirel bounded into Harry and Draco’s room, little body full of energy. “Wake up! Wake up!” she yelled, bouncing on the bed to wake them faster. She wasn't worried that they were completely naked, after all, she knew they hadn't gotten that far in their courting.

Harry groaned in protest. “Too early,” he mumbled sleepily. Draco grunted in agreement, cracking an eye open to look at her.

“Come on! Time to get up!”

Draco shot up suddenly with a playful glint in his eyes and, grabbing hold of Sirel, dragged her down beside him. She squeaked in surprise, eyes going wide, which turned to a squeal as she saw his hands coming down, fingers wiggling menacingly.

She laughed uncontrollably as he began to tickle her mercilessly, screamed and tried to get away.

Draco stopped when he heard Harry groan in exasperation. With a wicked grin on his face, Draco mimed to Sirel that they should tickle Harry now. Sirel smiled and nodded.

Harry cried out in surprise and tried to get away from them, laughing, but they only followed until he gasped out that he was giving up. “That was mean,” he panted, trying to hide a smile. They only smiled at him knowingly.

Sirel crawled her way off the bed and looked back at them. “Get dressed and no funny stuff.” With that, she turned and marched out of the room.

“Yes, Mum,” Harry muttered when he thought she was out of earshot.

“I heard that!” she called back.

Draco laughed at Harry, who grunted, trying to bury himself back in the blankets. “Come on, Harry. We promised her, after all.” When that didn’t do anything, he leaned over and laid a kiss on the middle of Harry’s back, letting his tongue snake out and touch his boyfriend's back.

Harry gasped at the contact and gave Draco a heated look.

“Come on. We’d better hurry or she might come back and find us in the middle of something she shouldn’t be seeing,” Draco murmured, pulling his dressing gown over his semi-nude body.

With a sigh, Harry followed his example and began to get ready for the day ahead. He really couldn’t blame her. This would be the first time she’d gone out in weeks, after all.

* * *

For an hour and a half, they sat in the Leaky Cauldron, watching at the few people who were sitting around the room. Sirel looked around, taking in the rustic look of the inn. It was one thing to see it when Harry and his friends visited it, but quite another to actually experience it.

“Are you coming, Sirel?” Remus asked quietly.

Only then did she realize that everyone was waiting for her. “Sorry,” she murmured and walked over to them. She put her hand inside Harry’s, knowing how Draco didn’t like to show affection in public. “Mr. Lupin?”

“Please, Sirel, call me Remus,” Lupin murmured with a soft smile.

“Remus? Just what are we getting? I doubt I’ll need too many things.”

Snape looked down at Sirel, wondering just what the others had told her about the classes she’d be attending. Perhaps it was a good thing he’d decided to join them after all. “Actually,” Harry told her. “You’re going to need some new clothes.”

Sirel frowned, looking down at her clothes, which were hidden by the cloak Harry and Draco had insisted she wear. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“It makes you stand out from everyone,” Remus answered and led the way out the back of the inn.

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked curiously. To her, clothes were unimportant. After all, her wardrobe was made up of outfits of the same color, the only difference were the style and cuts.

“Well, think about that,” Snape said impatiently. “Do you _want_ everyone to know you’re not from our realm? Or do you want to blend in?” He ignored the look of warning Harry shot him. He was getting tired of them babying her. At times, she acted older than Harry or Draco and they needed to be reminded of that.

Sirel frowned as she thought of that for a moment. “I suppose you’re right. If they realize I’m different, I’ll have to explain why. I’m assuming we don’t want everyone to know about what my people do, right?” she asked, looking up at Snape.

“Exactly.” He’d assumed correctly. She was smarter than anyone had given her credit for. He’d realized this when she’d answered questions last night in a way that indicated extreme intelligence, but only emerged when challenged. Harry and Draco insisted on treating her like a normal five-year-old child, which this little girl obviously wasn’t. “Especially if we don’t want the Dark Lord to find out about what you can do, or even what you know.”

By this time, Remus began tapping on the stone wall before them. Her eyes widened as she watched the bricks slowly slide out of the way to reveal the shops and people bustling about their business.

“And no one besides wizards and witches know this is here?” she asked, wondering how that could be possible.

“Yes. Very strong magic went into the concealment of this place,” Remus murmured with a content sigh. “Where do you want to go first?” he asked the rest of the group.

Harry looked over at Draco. “Clothes?” he asked the blond with a shrug.

“Might as well,” Draco said with a shrug of his own.

“Alright then, Madam Malkin’s will be our first stop,” Remus murmured quietly as he led the way towards the boutique.

“I’ll see the rest of you at the restaurant later, then. There are some things I need to pick up for Monday,” Snape told them and strode away from the group purposefully.

* * *

By the time they were done choosing clothes for Sirel, the little girl was so exhausted she began to trail behind them. After the third time, Remus turned around to see what she was doing. He took pity on her and picked her up.

She didn’t even protest.

She rested her head on his shoulder, eyes closed. She didn’t know how these humans did it. All the clothes to put on and take off, only to put more on. _How can they_ endure _it? All the fussing!_

Three hours they’d been in the boutique! 

_Three hours!_

They’d finally settled for fifteen different outfits which Draco had insisted she’d need. “At least,” he’d said, “she doesn’t need any school uniforms.”

Thank goodness!

Now they were in another store, buying _more_ things which she had no interest in. She half-listened to them drone on about things she’d need for the classes she’d be attending.

She couldn’t wait until they were done.

“Sirel?” Harry murmured softly, caressing her cheek.

She opened her eyes to look at him, wondering what he wanted now.

“Are you getting hungry?” he asked her curiously.

“Are we done for the day?” she asked tiredly, blinking slowly.

“Not quite. We will be, shortly though. We just have a few more things to get and then we’ll be done for the day,” he promised, smiling gently at her. “Let’s go have some lunch.”

She sighed and nodded. _Might as well,_ she thought to herself, though she wasn’t really hungry, just hot and tired. She watched for a few more minutes as people walked by them as they passed a variety of stores that displayed all manner of things.

Her eyes slowly drifted shut again and this time, she _did_ fall asleep.

The little diner they entered was warm and cozy, but the cheery atmosphere, Harry realized when he turned to take her from Remus, was lost on Sirel.

“Well,” he murmured, wondering if he should wake her or let her sleep.

“Just let her sleep, Harry. She’s not used to all this excitement,” Remus told him as they walked over to where Snape was waiting for them at a corner of the diner. Draco Transfigured a chair into a love seat, which Remus laid her down on, draping his cloak over her.

Snape seemed surprised that she was sleeping. “You tired her out with the clothes?” he asked incredulously.

“I guess,” Draco murmured with a shrug as he sat down. “We’ll just order her something to take with us. She can eat later.”

* * *

They finally woke her an hour and a half later. She hadn’t even stirred when Remus insisted on picking her up and carrying her again.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked at Draco. “Time to wake up, Sirel,” he said gently, frowning at the slight heat coming off her. Was she coming down with something or was it just because she’d been nestled against the werewolf?

She straightened up and looked around curiously. “Are we done?” she asked as Remus put her down.

“Not quite. We still have a couple more stops left. Right now, we need to get you a wand,” Harry told her as he opened the door to another shop.

“You guys go in. There’s something I have to do. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Draco told them and headed off in a different direction.

“I’ll join you,” Snape said, frowning slightly.

With a shrug, Harry, Remus and Sirel walked into Ollivanders. Sirel was surprised at the mess inside the store, though she knew it was a kind of organized disorder that the wandmaker had, for keeping track of his stock. It was now even worse than when Harry and Draco had purchased their own wands.

“How may I help you gentlemen, and Lady,” Ollivander asked as he came to the front desk.

“We need a wand for Sirel to use, just a practice one will do,” Remus told the wand maker easily.

Ollivander's eyebrows rose in question. “Really?” He looked over at Sirel in curiosity. “And how old are you, child?”

“I’m five,” she told him seriously, head tilted to one side as she took in the appearance of the wandmaker.

“And why would you need a wand?” he asked her.

Sirel smiled sweetly at him, knowing what he _really_ wanted to ask but didn’t know if he dared to ask it. “Because they want to know what I’d do with it,” she told him with an indifferent shrug. “Though I don’t really need it to do what you guys do with it.”

Ollivander's eyes widened in surprise, thinking she was only kidding with him. He’d never heard of anyone being able to do wandless magic at such a young age. “Really? Can you show me?”

She looked questioningly at Harry to see if it was alright. Harry shrugged and nodded. She looked over at the flower and vase that were on the table furthest from the door and concentrated. The vase slowly rose and floated over to the wandmaker, who stared in amazement as it settled on his counter.

“Well,” Ollivander murmured after a few moments of stunned silence. “This should be interesting.”

He walked away from the counter to see what he could find. A couple of minutes later, he came back with a box, which he opened. Inside was a beautiful wand. Reaching inside, he picked up the wand and held it out towards the little girl. 

She waved it at the vase, like she’d seen Harry do when he’d first gotten his wand.

They were all surprised when it fizzed a bit then died. It almost sounded like someone had let the air out of a balloon.

“Hm.” Ollivander took it from her, examining it carefully, eyebrows raised. “Apparently not the one.” He put it on the counter and went in search of another one. Five minutes later, he was handing her another.

As soon as she waved it, it began to shoot angry sparks from the tip, shaking in her hand. Sirel hissed in pain as she dropped it, rubbing her hand.

“What happened?” Harry asked, taking her hand to see a two-inch burn mark on her palm where the wand had touched her skin. He raised his eyes in surprise to look at Remus. “Has a wand ever done _that_ before?” he asked.

“Not to my knowledge.”

They looked at Ollivander, who was just as surprised as they were. “Perhaps she’s not meant to have a wand?” he suggested. “Should we try a third one?”

“I don’t want to try another one,” Sirel told them, shaking her hand a little.

Harry picked up the wand and handed it to Ollivander. “What do you think, Professor?”

Remus frowned in thought. “We should try at least one more,” he told them, looking down at Sirel, whose eyebrows rose as they disregarded her wishes. “If you don’t have a wand, we’ll have to explain to everyone how it is that you can do the same things as they can with one. I’d rather keep that information to ourselves for as long as possible.”

Ollivander nodded and went in search of a third wand. This time it took him a little longer to find one that he hoped would work. Hesitantly, he handed it out to Sirel.

With a heavy sigh, she reached out and took hold of it. She waved it at the vase, wondering what reaction she would get from the wand this time.

Nothing.

“Try it again,” Remus murmured with an encouraging nod.

So she waved it again.

The wand grew warm in her hand and she gasped as the warmth grew more and more, the wand actually getting red. It also began to emit a low pitch whine which grew in volume the redder the wand got.

“Let go of it,” Harry told Sirel.

“I _can’t_ ,” she cried, her voice laced with pain.

Harry quickly reached out to take it from her. He was only inches from it when it exploded, the shockwave knocking them all back.

Sirel was thrown into the boxes of wands stacked in front of the desk. Ollivander was knocked off his feet, the desk protecting him from the brunt of the blast. Harry flew back, hitting the wall beside the door, knocking the breath out of him. Remus was thrown back into the shelf behind him.


	16. 16. Wand or No Wand?

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 16 – Wand or No Wand?

Sirel was thrown into the boxes of wands stacked in front of the desk. Ollivander was knocked off his feet, the desk protecting him from the brunt of the blast. Harry flew back, hitting the wall beside the door, knocking the wind out of him. Remus was thrown back into the shelf behind him.

That was how Draco and Snape found them, minutes later, when they walked into Ollivander's, a small puppy in Draco’s arms.

“What happened?” Draco asked, surveying the destruction and trying to help Harry to his feet, putting the puppy down.

On the other side of the room, Remus was also picking himself up from out of the boxes and wands, while Ollivander peeked above the counter, eyes wide.

“Check on Sirel,” Harry murmured, hissing when he put his hand down to push himself up. Looking at it, he noticed his hand was bloody with wooden fragments embedded in the flesh.

_Wand fragments_ , he realized dimly.

The young men watched as Snape picked up the little girl, cradling her gently, the puppy watching him curiously, sniffing cautiously. “What the hell happened?” he demanded as he saw the blood trickling down her face from the wooden fragments embedded there.

“The wand she was trying blew up in her hand,” Ollivander told him, coming around the counter to see the extent of the damage. Splinters were embedded deep into the skin that hadn’t been protected by clothing. Snape assumed she’d thrown up an arm to protect her eyes as there were no wooden fragments or blood around them.

It was her hand that was the most severely injured. There was an angry welt on the left palm with wooden fragments buried deep in the skin. There were wooden fragments everywhere. Whatever the core had been, there was no sign of it. Not that Snape could see, anyway.

“The core must’ve imploded,” Ollivander murmured, also looking around.

“Can it actually do that?” Draco asked in surprise.

“It _can_ happen, though not often."

“Does this mean she’ll never be able to use a wand?” Remus asked, coming to stand beside them.

“She’s too focused to use one the way we do. She’ll just keep overloading them,” Ollivander told them with a shrug.

“If she overloads them, why did this one blow up?” Harry asked curiously, biting back a grimace of pain.

“Because it was more powerful than the other two she tried. That wand was reserved for an accomplished wizard, and it simply blew up.”

Snape’s eyebrows rose as he looked at the wandmaker. “You mean to tell me that she shorted out two wands and you gave her a third one? What did the first one do?”

“It fizzed out,” Harry told the Potions master.

“And the second?”

“It shot red sparks, shook in her hand and burnt her a little,” Ollivander said.

“I assume it was more powerful than the first?” 

The wandmaker only nodded. 

Snape sighed angrily. “And you gave her a third and more powerful wand? Are you mad? You’re lucky you didn’t kill her,” he snapped angrily at Harry, Remus and Ollivander. “And as for her using a wand to cover what she does, do you have a wand with no core?” he asked the wandmaker.

Ollivander looked slightly guilty, but shook his head. “I can make her one. Very easily.”

“Good. Make one and send it to the school as soon as it’s ready. She doesn’t need the core. She just needs to pretend she’s using the wand like everyone else,” he growled as he picked up the little girl. “Grab the pup and head back to the Leaky Cauldron. We need to get her to Madam Pomfrey. I don’t know what this will do to her.”

Remus picked up the puppy, who proceeded to lick his face in excitement.

Sirel chose that moment to wake up. She stirred and whimpered in pain. “Easy,” Snape murmured softly in her ear, keeping her still by holding her close to his chest. “Relax. I know it hurts, but be patient. We’re going to get back.”

At his words, she stopped moving, relaxing against him. He hadn’t thought she would. Quickly, they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron and Flooed back to their quarters. “I’ll go get Madam Pomfrey,” Harry said, but was stopped by Remus.

“It might be better if I go,” he told the raven-haired young man, pointing at the injured hand. He put the puppy down and quickly left.

Snape placed Sirel down gently on the couch, frowning as she blinked dazedly up at him. “Stay there,” he ordered in his usual gruff manner. He was surprised when she stilled, her attention focusing on him instantly before she nodded, wincing in pain as the motion aggravated her wounds.

He could see how Harry and Draco could easily forget she wasn’t a normal five year old child. Sometimes she acted exactly like a child her age _would_ , but then she would come out with things no normal child would come out with.

He motioned for the two young men to follow him. “Mr. Potter, I would like you to do something,” he told Harry when they were out of earshot.

“What’s that, Professor?” Harry asked worriedly, thinking something was wrong with Sirel.

“Stop babying Sirel.”

Harry felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. “What?”

“You have to remember,” he told them both impatiently. “She’s not a regular, normal child. She knows more than either of you combined, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew more than I do. Stop treating her like a child. Yes, she looks like she’s five, but her mentality is more along the lines of thirty-five. Treat her accordingly.”

“But, Sev,” Draco protested, “she’s only a child!”

“No, Draco. She _isn’t_. It’s an act. She’s using the fact that she looks like a child to her advantage. Tell me, looking at her, would you realize that if she _really_ tried, she could do everything both of you do, and without a wand?”

Seeing the confused look on both the teenagers’ faces, he sighed impatiently. Glancing at her, he noticed her watching them, and smiled. _Good, she’s alert._ It had probably been his harsh tone when he’d put her down that had snapped her out of her daze stupor.

Before either young man realized what was going on, Snape pulled out his wand and threw a powerful spell at Sirel. The little girl didn’t even blink, deflecting it easily without moving; the only evidence was the flutter of her hair. The three of them had the eerie sensation that they were looking at two people occupying the same space: one being the child of five, the other an old woman.

“Professor!” Harry sputtered, drawing his own wand, pointing it at Snape, unsure of what to make of what he’d seen.

“Calm yourself,” Snape snapped irritably. “I just proved my point. She didn’t even have to move to avoid the spell.” He pointed at Sirel, who just watched them, sitting calmly like there was nothing out of the ordinary. “She even knows how to be with the two of you, though you don’t realize it. How she’ll run to Harry, who’ll pick her up, but she won’t do it with Draco. How she took Harry’s hand this morning, but not Draco’s, like she knew Draco was uncomfortable showing affection in public.”

Realization dawned in the teenagers’ eyes as his words sank in and they turned to look at Sirel.

She jumped suddenly when the puppy jumped up on the couch, floppy ears raised as he looked at her. “What’s that?”

Draco smiled and walked closer to the couch. “ _That,_ ” he murmured proudly, pushing the conversation with Snape to the back of his mind for now, “is a puppy. What’re you going to name him?”

She looked up at Draco questioningly. “Name?” she pulled away from the puppy, unsure of what to do. The puppy let out a whining bark and pawed at the air in front of her, ears perking up as he watched her.

“Yes. Don’t you have pets where you’re from?” Harry asked, sitting on the other side of the puppy, digging his fingers under the thick grayish-brown fur. The puppy collapsed on the cushion with a look of utter bliss on his face. Sirel giggled, which caused the puppy’s ears to perk up again for a few seconds, before he relaxed on the cushion again. 

“No, we don’t have any animals.” Hesitantly, she reached out and touched the puppy’s fur, surprised at how soft it was.

“Well, here we have all _kinds_ of pets and we give them names so they’ll know when we’re talking to them. What do you think we should call him?” Harry asked, his hand traveling from the puppy’s neck to his belly.

“I don’t know. What _should_ I call him?” she asked curiously.

“You can name him later,” Madam Pomfrey said gruffly and moved towards the couch. They hadn’t even heard her enter the room with Remus. Startled, Sirel held out a hand and created an invisible wall with her magic. Madam Pomfrey blinked in surprise when she bumped into it but could go no further. The wall effectively stopped the mediwitch a few feet from her intended target.

Harry, Draco and Remus looked at Sirel in surprise, though Snape only smiled smugly. Even the puppy sat up, startled by the undercurrents now in the room.

“It’s okay, Sirel,” Harry told her soothingly.

Snape sighed impatiently and turned to glare at Harry. “Sirel!” he snapped, shifting his glare to her. Everyone looked at him in surprise. “Do you _really_ think we’d bring someone here to hurt you? Stop that and let Madam Pomfrey look at your wounds.”

They were even more surprised when they felt the wall come down. “Of course,” Sirel murmured, nodding to Snape. “I should know that by now, but you can’t blame me for reacting first.”

“Of course not,” Harry said soothingly, interrupting whatever Snape had been about to say. “Watch,” he told her softly and held out his hand to the mediwitch.

Hesitating, looking from Harry to Snape and then back, Madam Pomfrey decided to take Harry’s lead. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on yet. She took his hand and waved her wand over it. Sirel watched in amazement as the wooden fragments slowly pushed themselves out of Harry’s flesh. Once they were all out and wiped away, she put a healing salve on the wounds and wrapped it up. “These can come off tomorrow morning,” the mediwitch told Harry as she tied the bandage up.

She turned to look at Sirel, smiling gently. “Are you ready for me to look at you, now?” the nurse asked, waiting patiently for the little girl to relax. Only when Sirel nodded did the mediwitch move closer.

She flinched away from the wand when it was waved in front of her, but all she felt was a slight tingling as the wood fragments were magically pushed out. After that was completed, the nurse gently rubbed some salve onto Sirel’s face. “There. You’ll be as good as new by tomorrow morning. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Sirel hesitantly showed her the hand, which had held the wands, and showed her the angry red welt. Madam Pomfrey only raised an eyebrow and cast a simple healing charm. She frowned when nothing happened. She cast three more healing charms, each one more powerful than the last, before anything happened.

The red welt slowly began to fade, though it didn’t completely fade away. She nodded her head in satisfaction and applied some salve onto what was left of the wound. “I’ll check on you again tomorrow morning,” the nurse murmured as she turned to leave, bustling away in her efficient manner.

“Well,” Harry murmured as the puppy jumped off the couch and began exploring his new home. “Time for you to eat something,” he told Sirel, who’d been about to follow the puppy.

She looked up at Harry. “But I’m not hungry.”

“You should eat something. Supper isn’t for a few more hours and you slept through lunch. Try eating the sandwich we bought for you,” he told her as he rummaged through one of the bags they’d brought home. 

He frowned when he couldn’t locate it and heard Sirel stifle a giggle. “I think the puppy had the same idea,” she told him when he looked up at her. She pointed to where the puppy had dragged the sandwich under the table, happily munching at it.

Harry glared at the puppy. “Well, we can always ask Dobby to make you a snack.” At the mention of his name, Dobby popped in with a plate of fruit and a smile.

“I think I’ll name the puppy Drey,” Sirel told them as she accepted the plate Dobby held out to her, nodding her thanks at the house-elf.

“That’s a good name. Does it mean something?” Remus asked curiously.

“No, I just like the way it sounds,” she said with a shrug. “Look, Dobby, I got a puppy.” She pointed under the table where Drey was making a mess out of the wrapper as he tried to lick up every crumb left from the sandwich.

Dobby’s eyes narrowed at the mess and snapped his fingers. Drey yipped as the mess vanished, snapping him on the nose as it did so. “How did the little Mistress enjoy her outing?” Dobby asked Sirel, frowning when she didn’t start eating. He’d been listening to the conversation , which was why he knew she needed a snack and since she wasn’t a big meat eater, fruit was what he’d brought her.

“Exhausting,” Sirel said with feeling. “I don’t know how you do that, change clothes after clothes.” She looked down at the food on her plate and felt her stomach protest. She knew she should be hungry, since the last meal she’d had had been an hour and a half before they’d left, but she couldn’t seem to make herself eat any of it.

Slowly, she picked up one piece and forced herself to eat it, because Dobby was starting to look worried and she didn’t want him to be.

Dobby hummed happily and snapped his fingers again. This time, the bags rose by themselves and hovered a foot off the floor. “Dobby will put these away,” he murmured and the bags followed him upstairs. 

When the house-elf was gone, she almost sighed in relief, but stopped herself in time, realizing Snape was watching her again. Thinning out her wall, she was able to feel Snape’s irritation at her. She knew he didn’t like it when she reacted like the child she looked like, but damn it! _What else am I supposed to do? Look at their reactions when they found out I read four books in less than eight hours!_

She needed to talk to someone who wouldn’t discount what she would say. But who?


	17. 17. Not Quite Childhood Illness

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 17 – Not Quite Childhood Illness

She needed to talk to someone who wouldn’t discount what she would say. But who?

Drey padded over to the portrait; his ears perked up and he barked before it swung open, letting Ron and Hermione into the room. “Oh, isn’t he cute!” Hermione exclaimed as she caught sight of the puppy, whose tail wagged excitedly.

“His name’s Drey,” Draco told her as she scooped the animal up, walking further into the room. “Sirel named him.”

Ron didn’t say anything, but reached out to pet the puppy, who tilted his head at the red-head, before he sat down in the chair opposite Lupin’s. Putting the puppy down, Hermione sat on the arm of Ron’s chair. “So how was the shopping trip?” she asked, looking at Harry, Draco and then Sirel.

“They managed to tire Sirel out when they went shopping for clothes,” Snape drawled, coming to stand beside the couch.

“Damn it, Drey!” Harry exclaimed suddenly as he caught sight of the puppy taking off with one of his scrolls and took off after him. The three other teenagers laughed as the puppy ran faster when Harry took off after him.

“Professor Snape?” Sirel murmured, thanking her luck that he didn’t stand too far away.

“Yes?”

“Can we talk?” she asked him seriously.

Snape sat down on the couch beside her, noticing for the first time how pale she looked. _Had she always been that pale?_ he wondered idly as he watched her put her plate on the table in front of her. He frowned as he saw her catch herself on the table, but dismissed it when she straightened, sat back on the couch and looked up at him.

“If I was honest with you, would you be equally honest with me?” she asked quietly.

He blinked back at her in surprise. Whatever he imagined she’d say, this wasn’t it. “Of course, as long as you don’t expect me to treat you like you’re five or that you’re as naïve as everyone here does.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I actually regretted telling them I’d read those books yesterday,” she told him with a tired sigh. “It gets tiring trying to misdirect everyone about how much I really know or can do.”

“You do realize, though, that even an adult would have a hard time reading four books in eight hours,” Snape told her, watching her reaction.

“Really?” She seemed genuinely perplexed by that. “But then, no one usually sits down to simply read books for that length of time,” she told him with a shrug. “And most of that, I know from watching the boys actually practice.”

Snape felt his lips twitch at the word ‘boys’. He found it funny that one who looked so young would use that particular term for people who actually looked older than she did. It only confirmed what he’d told Harry and Draco. She was far older than she seemed, perhaps not in her terms, but by Snape’s and anyone else’s she was bound to meet during her stay with them.

“How long were they under your charge?” he asked her curiously, watching as Harry chased Drey under a chair by the table.

“Since I was four,” she said and frowned as she thought back on that. “I guess since they were born.”

“They started you that young?” Snape asked, surprised.

“Usually by the time you’re ten, you’ve had several charges, though you have a Medea to help. After you’ve turned ten, you get a charge without supervision,” she told him with an indifferent shrug.

“You told Harry and Draco you were five years old by your terms. How old are you in our years?”

Sirel tilted her head to one side and thought about that for a few seconds. “I’m not quite sure. It depends on how you calculate your days and years.”

“Well, we have twenty-four hours in a day and three hundred and sixty-five days in a year.” Snape watched her as she concentrated on her mental calculations, surprised at how it made her look older.

“It would make me…” she murmured after a few minutes, thinking hard. “About a hundred and forty years old, I guess.” 

Snape’s eyebrows rose incredulously. “Really?”

“Yeah, about that.” She looked over at him, smiling slightly at his reaction. “Is that old?”

“A bit. Who was your first assignment?”

“My first assignment was someone named Goddrick, I think they said his name was. He was powerful, too, though he wasn’t as interesting as Draco and Harry.” She was looking at Harry, who was fighting with the puppy for his homework and missed the look Snape shot at her.

“How is that possible?” he asked at last.

“Viewing can take as long as you want, depending on what’s happening. We still record everything, but it doesn’t mean we have to be bored doing it. We can view one lifetime in a day or a few years. We usually don’t dwell on something unless it’s worth noting in detail.” She looked over at him, wondering if he was getting what she was saying.

“I see,” he murmured softly. And indeed, he did see and that was what frightened him most. It would be so easy for someone to misuse the information this child had in her head, and in her state, there’d be nothing to stop them from doing it, except maybe her magic.

It was fortunate that Harry and Draco were the ones chosen to protect her. They, at least, wouldn’t misuse her knowledge. But Dumbledore… He’d noticed the Headmaster pacing outside the portrait on quite a few occasions and wondered what the old man would do if he _could_ get in. _How long before he tries? Who will he use to get in?_

He’d also noticed the other Slytherins watching Draco with Harry in Potion class and wondered how long before _that_ confrontation came to pass. “Have you tried this Sending power yet?” he asked her as he thought back on what she’d already revealed.

“Not yet,” she murmured, eyes narrowed slightly. “I wish that boy would make up his mind,” she whispered and Snape noticed who she was looking at. 

_Ronald Weasley._

Then he noticed how Ron was watching Draco, who was laughing at Harry who now sat on the floor with his homework a little worse for wear.

“What are you getting from him?” he asked her quietly as he saw Ron’s eyes narrow angrily.

Sirel turned to look at Snape, surprised he’d actually heard her. “A lot of resentment, anger and jealousy. Also, a little fear. I think he thinks he’s being replaced by Draco as Harry’s best friend.”

“And is he?”

She sighed tiredly and rubbed at her eyes. “Only if he keeps being a jerk to Harry. Honestly, I don’t understand how he can think that. Harry’s never indicated that he didn’t want to stay friends with him, though he’s had cause.”

Snape frowned at her, sure that she was paler than when he’d sat down. “You don’t look too good. How are you feeling?”

“Truth be told, I don’t feel too good. I have no appetite, I’m hot and my head is spinning,” she told him, laying her head against the cushion behind her, closing her eyes. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just tired from all the shopping.”

Snape’s frown deepened. “Had you been around anyone, excluding Harry and Draco, before today? Even outside this tower?”

“The only people I’ve had contact with, besides today, are all in here, with the exception of Ron. Is that significant?” she asked curiously, peering up at him.

“One more question, first,” he told her. “Where you’re from, does anyone get sick?” At her blank look, he sighed impatiently. “Cough, runny noses, upset stomach?”

“Oh, no. Everyone’s always in perfect health.”

“Draco,” Snape said, catching his attention. He motioned him closer. 

“Yes?” Draco asked, looking from the Potions master to Sirel and back.

“I think you should go and get Madam Pomfrey,” Snape told him, getting up.

“Why? What’s wrong?” he asked, gaze sharpening.

“I think Sirel may have caught something from someone in Diagon Alley today.”

Draco looked at him in surprise for a few seconds before turning on his heel, leaving on his errand.

“Lay down on the couch,” Snape ordered her, putting a pillow down for her to lay her head down on.

She crawled up to it and collapsed, lips pressed tightly together. Once she was settled, she closed her eyes with a heavy sigh and didn’t move, even when Harry came over to see if she was alright.

“How long did she sleep today?” Snape asked Harry as he Transfigured a pillow into a blanket, realizing that the little girl was already asleep. Hermione and Ron came to stand beside Harry. Lupin stood beside Snape.

Harry frowned as he thought back. “I’m not sure. Not long after we left Madam Malkin’s, she started to lag behind so Professor Lupin picked her up. Not long after that, we noticed her eyes were closed, but I’m not sure if she was sleeping or just resting her eyes. I _do_ know that she was asleep from the time we had lunch until we reached Ollivanders.”

“And then Draco woke her up, I remember,” Remus murmured, eyes narrowed as he thought back.

“And she was extremely warm. I just assumed it was because of Professor Lupin,” Draco said from the door, leading the mediwitch inside.

“What’s wrong with the child now, Severus?” Poppy asked as she walked past Draco and over to the couch.

“I think she may have caught something when we took her to Diagon Alley today. Apparently she had no immunity to our colds and flus,” Snape told the older woman.

“Symptoms?”

“Hot, dizzy and no appetite, is what she told me. Now she’s asleep again,” Snape answered immediately.

“How long did she sleep today? What time was she up?”

“She was up at 6:30 this morning,” Harry told her. “We had breakfast and then a couple hours later, we left for the Leaky Cauldron.”

“She might have slept two or three hours before lunch, but we’re not sure,” Draco added.

“She _did_ sleep through lunch and at least an hour afterwards. Except for when she had that accident with a wand, she’s been awake for at least an hour since then,” Snape finished.

The mediwitch nodded her head thoughtfully, pulled out her wand, and cast a few spells. She frowned at what the first one revealed, but her frown only deepened at what the others also revealed. Finally, she looked up and smiled at Harry and Draco, who were now standing side by side. “Why don’t you put her to bed?” she suggested softly.

“What does she have?” Harry asked worriedly, not moving.

“Put her to bed. We’ll talk when you come back,” the mediwitch promised, nodding encouragingly. Harry sighed in frustration, but nodded.

Walking around the couch, he picked her up effortlessly. 

“Harry, we’ll come by later tonight,” Hermione murmured, nodding to Draco before she and Ron walked towards the door.

Draco turned to look at Snape, who nodded at him. “I’ll come with you, Harry,” he murmured as he followed Harry up the stairs.

“Where has she been that she has no natural immunity to any of the normal childhood ailments?” she asked Snape when the boys had gone.

“All I know is that wherever it is she’s from, they apparently don’t have _any_ kind of ailments,” Snape told her with a sigh.

Poppy’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?”

Snape nodded. “What does she have?”

It was Poppy’s turn to sigh and shake her head. “What doesn’t she have? She seems to have caught just about all of the flues and colds that children her age would have already gone through. She’s in good health, which is why I’m surprised she caught anything at all.”

She noticed Harry and Draco coming back down the step and motioned them closer. “She’s got the common cold, the stomach flu, and a sore throat, just to name a few. Has she complained about _any_ aches and pains?”

Both boys shook their heads.

“Only what I told you about, and even then, I don’t think she would’ve said anything if I hadn’t asked her how she felt,” Snape told the mediwitch.

“Well, my spells indicated a high fever. I’m surprised she was even awake and talking coherently. There’s also a faint trace of a strange kind of healing. I’ve never seen the like of it before,” Poppy said with a frown.

“Maybe it’s her healing ability?” Draco suggested. Seeing the blank look on the mediwitch’s face, he decided to explain. “Sirel can perform a kind of healing. I’m not quite sure how it works, but I know it'd something I’ve never seen before.”

“Explain,” Snape murmured, motioning for Draco to continue.

“Well, when she rescued me from my father, I felt a soothing warmth envelop my wrists and when the warmth was gone, my wrists were completely healed. No scars or scrapes,” Draco said with a shrug.

“She did the same thing to me, for my ribs,” Harry told her hesitantly. “My cousin broke a couple of ribs when he decided to use me like a punching bag, and she noticed I was having a hard time breathing deeply.”

Snape and Poppy looked at him in surprise, but Draco, who’d already heard this, was the only one who reached out and took his hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

“So she can heal herself,” the mediwitch murmured softly.

“Only up to a point, though. She told us she couldn’t heal herself completely,” Draco told them with a shrug. “She also told us she hadn’t tried it yet, so she didn’t know if she still could heal. I guess this answers that question.”

“Do you think she’ll be alright?” Harry asked Poppy.

“I’ll check on her tomorrow. I should know more then.”


	18. 18. A Woman Scorned

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 18 – A Woman Scorned

Late Sunday night, Karal appeared in Sirel’s room, looking down at the sick little girl. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be here, but Sirel wasn’t getting any better. He’d been watching as the woman who was their healer tried to care for the little girl and had heard her tell the boys that she was getting worse, that nothing she tried was working.

“She’s fighting too many infections and illnesses off at the same time,” she’d told them. “Every time she fights one off, another takes its place. She’s getting run down and my spells aren’t having any effect, either.”

The point of putting her with these humans was to teach her a lesson, not to kill her. They just hadn’t anticipated that she would have so low an immunity to all the illnesses. He knew the others wouldn’t begrudge him this little act, because he wasn’t really interfering with what was supposed to happen.

He could hear soft voices coming from downstairs, indicating that the boys were still up, probably worrying about Sirel. 

They were good for her, if a little too babying, but it was in their nature to coddle their children. He could forgive their blindness when Sirel did something no child should do and they didn’t seem to see it… except for a few.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pulled the blankets off her and easily pulled Sirel onto his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. She was radiating a large amount of heat for someone her size, he noticed as he brushed her sweaty hair out of her face. 

Before he realized what he was doing, he softly began to hum, rocking her gently. 

“Karal?” she murmured softly, forcing her eyes to open. 

He stopped rocking and looked down at her. “Sleep, Sirel. I’m going to heal you, but you’ll still need to rest if you’re going to start your lessons in the morning,” he told her softly.

She nodded trustingly and snuggled closer to him, sighing contentedly, asleep in seconds. Karal smiled down at her. At least these boys were doing a good job of protecting her. He placed a hand on her forehead and concentrated a little. This wasn’t going to take long and by morning she would be her old self…

* * * 

Harry and Draco were surprised, when, the next morning, Sirel came bounding down the stairs, dressed in one of her new outfits. “Are we having breakfast up here or with everyone else?” she asked excitedly.

“Are you sure you feel well enough for this? We could wait a few more days,” Harry murmured, frowning worriedly. No one who’d been in her condition the previous night should be fine the next morning. What had happened last night?

“Quit being a worry wart,” she said, taking hold of his hand, intending to drag him downstairs. “Come on! I’m _starving_!”

Draco quirked and eyebrow at her enthusiasm, and followed behind them, leaving Drey in Dobby’s capable care.

“See you later, Dobby!” Sirel called out before she dragged Harry out the door.

* * *

She watched quietly as word got around that Harry and Draco were coming down together with someone new.

Everyone turned to look as they passed the three of them and those closest to the door watched them, whispering to each other in surprise.

“Are you and Draco sitting at your own house tables?” she asked Harry as they reached the last landing.

“Yes. Do you want to sit with me or with Draco?” he asked her, curious as to where she would go.

“I think I’ll sit with you. I can always go sit with Draco tomorrow.”

They looked over at Draco, who shrugged indifferently. “Fine with me.”

When they entered the Great Hall, those sitting closest to the door stopped to stare at them, nudging the one sitting beside them and whispering in their ear. “Wow,” Sirel murmured as she watched the process first hand. Now she knew how Harry felt whenever this happened to him.

Harry pulled her along, heading for the Gryffindor table while Draco headed for the Slytherins'. As they walked, the whole room went quiet, turning to watch them… or more specifically, her. “Maybe we should’ve had breakfast upstairs after all,” she told Harry softly.

“Ignore them,” Harry said as he motioned for her to sit down between Hermione and a red-headed girl. Sirel noticed the red-head was frowning at her, but ignored her to say hi to Hermione before Harry sat between her and the brunette.

She had the impression that Harry had placed her there on purpose and when she shot a discreet look at the red-head, she bit her lip as she realized why. The other had already dismissed her, but wore a frustrated look since she couldn’t get closer to Harry.

Now she remembered that before summer started, Harry had been going out with this one, but had broken it off. 

Apparently, she wasn’t going to let that stop her from getting back with Harry this year and Harry was trying to prevent a scene by avoiding it altogether.

“Sirel, this is Ginny. She’s Ron’s sister,” Harry told her as he reached for some eggs and sausages and motioned for her to fix herself a plate.

* * *

Ginny looked up when the whispering began and watched as Harry walked up the aisle. Her heart jumped in her chest as he came closer, happy that he was finally showing up here instead of hiding upstairs with _Malfoy_. Even in her mind, she couldn’t help but spit out that hated name. Why did _he_ get to spend time with _her_ boyfriend instead of her?

Okay, Harry _had_ broken up with her at the start of summer, but she knew he wasn’t serious. It was all pretend, to throw You-Know-Who off Harry’s trail. It was only a charade.

It took her a few minutes to realize he was holding on to someone’s hand and she frowned in confusion when she saw the little girl. Then she remembered hearing somewhere that Harry and Malfoy were caring for someone. Apparently the rumor was true. But what was this little girl doing here at Hogwarts? She couldn’t be more than four or five!

Harry sat the little girl down between himself and Ginny and her frown deepened. Why sit on the other side? Why not beside her? And then he introduced her.

“Sirel, this is Ginny. She’s Ron’s sister.” 

_Just like that!_

Was that all she was to him? Ron’s _sister_? She’d have to fix that!

Before Sirel could even make up her mind as to what she wanted from the offerings, Ginny pounced. She looked down at the little girl in contempt. “Someone you’re mentoring?” she asked Harry, frowning. 

“No, she’s my cousin.”

Ginny’s eyebrows rose at that. Since when did he have family she didn’t know about? She knew his aunt and uncle only had one child and he was a boy. So where had this one come from? “Isn’t she a little young to be starting school? I’m sure Mum would be happy to watch her,” she murmured, dismissing Sirel entirely.

“Boy, don’t I feel welcomed here,” she heard the little girl mutter sarcastically and get up. “Harry, I’ll see you at lunch. I’m going to sit where I won’t be such a bother to people who think they’re important.”

Ginny sputtered angrily, but was ignored by Sirel as she walked away. “Your cousin is rude, Harry,” Ginny huffed as she slid closer to Harry.

“Maybe if you didn’t treat her like she was two, she’d treat you like you weren’t being catty,” Harry told her with an indifferent shrug.

“Catty?” Ginny asked, confused. Sometimes Harry came out with the weirdest Muggle terms.

“It means bitchy, Ginny,” Hermione told her, biting her lip to keep from smiling.

Ginny looked from the brunette to Harry and back again, surprised by the way Harry had insulted her without really insulting her. Her eyes narrowed slightly in anger, but Harry had already turned to his breakfast, talking to Hermione and ignoring the red-head.

She turned to glare at the little girl, who had just reached Draco. The blond moved over for her without a comment. She saw Sirel glance up and Ginny saw her raise an eyebrow, mocking her glare when others would have been scared. But what infuriated her the most was the smirk the little girl threw at her before dismissing her.

Ginny took a few minutes to calm herself, eating a little of her breakfast before she turned back to Harry with a sweet smile. “Are you taking me to Hogsmeade this weekend, Harry? After all, as your girlfriend, we should spend _some_ time together,” she asked him, pressing her leg against his suggestively. “I’m sure Malfoy can watch your cousin.”

Harry frowned at her and slid over a little. “No, Ginny, I already have plans with Sirel and Draco. Besides, I told you at the end of last year that we were finished.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. He’d planned on taking both Draco and Sirel down to visit with Hagrid. He was sure the little girl would _love_ the gentle giant as much as he did. 

His frown deepened when she insisted on sliding against him again. “Ginny, if you can’t keep to your own space, I’m going to have to switch places,” he told her as he slid away from her again.

Ginny pouted, though inside she seethed at the thought of Harry – her soon-to-be husband – spending more time with his worst enemy than with her, and it was all thanks to that little girl. She knew there was something wrong with this situation… and she was going to find out what it was.

And do something about it.


	19. 19. New Friends?

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 19 – New Friends?

Sirel walked calmly over to where Draco sat deep in conversation with the boy on his left. “Mind if I sit with you, Draco?” she asked to get his attention.

Draco didn’t say anything, simply slid over to give her some room to sit.

She felt eyes on her and looked up to see Ginny glaring at her. Wondering what had brought that about, she raised an eyebrow, mocking the older girl’s anger. She smiled when she saw the anger deepen and looked away before she started laughing. If she’d missed her guess, she’d probably try and get back together with Harry.

That should be interesting.

“Who’s this? Are you forgetting your manners, Draco?” the girl sitting across from her asked with a frown that didn’t look friendly.

Sirel sighed, wondering if she really _shouldn’t_ have had breakfast at the tower.

“Be nice, Pansy,” Draco warned the girl across the table. “This is Sirel. Harry and I are taking care of her for a while.”

“So, then, the rumours _are_ true,” the boy Draco had been talking to, murmured, his eyes narrowed in thought.

“Which rumours are those, Blaise?” the blond asked him with an amused smile. Sirel found it so different the way Draco interacted with his Slytherin friends. He was more likely to let them fight for whatever information they wanted, while Harry usually volunteered it to his Gryffindors.

“That you and Potter are together and taking care of someone young. Why?” Blaise asked, peering over Draco’s shoulder to get a better look at Sirel.

“Because we were asked to care for her,” Draco told him before taking a bite of his bacon.

“That’s not what Blaise meant, Draco, and you know it,” Pansy retorted, rolling her eyes at her friend. “Why were you and Potter asked? Why not just Potter?” 

“Then he should _say_ what he meant, Pansy,” Draco answered back with a raised eyebrow. “Potter and I have come to an understanding. We’ve agreed to a ceasefire. We’ve got enough to worry about without fighting each other.”

“When did this happen?” Blaise asked in surprise.

“This summer. Have some breakfast, Sirel, before the bell rings,” Draco told the little girl, motioning to the food laid out on the table.

Looking at the bacon, toasts, and cereals, Sirel sighed in disappointment and reached for a toast. Meat held no appeal and cereal simply tasted dry. There were several choices of jams, but she didn’t like the sweet taste so she settled for nibbling on the edges of it.

A plate suddenly appeared in front of her and she smiled, knowing Dobby was behind it. She discarded the toast with a happy sigh and felt eyes on her. Looking up, she noticed Pansy watching her. “What?” she asked curiously.

“You don’t like what’s on the table?” the older girl asked.

Feeling that the other was merely curious and not being nasty, Sirel shook her head. “I’m not really used to eating this kind of food,” she said with a shrug, letting her eyes drift over to where Harry sat beside an angry Ginny.

“I’ll give you some advice,” Pansy told her, noticing where her look had gone. “You shouldn’t anger _that_ one too much. She has a reputation for getting even.” 

Sirel blinked at her in surprise.

“So, Draco, are you and Potter just friends? Or is there more to it?” Blaise asked, distracting the girls’ attentions.

“Would it make a difference?” Draco asked, pretending he wasn’t watching his friend’s reaction.

Blaise shrugged indifferently. “Not really. I was just curious to know if he was going to become a permanent fixture or if it was just a temporary thing.”

Draco chewed thoughtfully, thinking back on what had happened in the short time he and Harry had gotten to know each other, of how their relationship seemed to have developed, albeit slowly. “Right now, we’re not thinking along those lines, not with a psychopath out there determined to kill him,” Draco said with a shrug of his own. “After he’s gone, then we’ll see what happens.”

“Why don’t you bring him to the dungeons? That way we could get to know him, too,” Pansy suggested.

“Why don’t you come up to the tower?” Sirel suggested instead, surprising all three of them. They seemed to have forgotten she was even there.

“Are you sure?” Draco asked her in surprise. Apparently he hadn’t thought his friends would be welcomed. “After all, you don’t know them.”

“You forget, Draco. I know them as well as you. Besides, if Harry can have _his_ friends come up, why not you? They seem more accepting than Harry’s friends, at any rate,” she said, nodding towards where Ginny was glaring in their direction again.

“Ignore her,” Blaise told them.

“Yes, she seems to think that Harry’s getting back with her, that their break-up was just a show for You-Know-Who,” Pansy added with a frown.

“How do you know that?” Draco asked in amusement. _Fat chance with that,_ he thought to himself.

“She was telling one of her little friends that on the train.”

Sirel opened her mouth to comment, but Snape chose that moment to interrupt. “Sirel, follow me, please.” Popping one last piece of fruit into her mouth, she hopped off the bench and followed the professor away.

Draco watched them until they’d passed the door before turning back to his breakfast. She’d be alright with Snape.

“So, who is she, Draco?” Pansy asked.

“She’s Harry’s cousin,” he told her, the lie sliding out easily.

Pansy’s eyebrows rose at that. “Draco, couldn’t you come up with a better lie? We all know Harry’s only cousin is the same age as the Golden Boy, and male to boot. So spill.”

Draco frowned menacingly at his friend, but the look she shot back at him told him she wasn’t intimidated, like he’d hoped she’d be. She knew him too well. “Come visit us in the tower tonight,” he told her instead, not wanting to discuss it where everyone could hear. He shook his head discreetly when she opened her mouth to object.

It snapped closed and she nodded, letting the subject go… for now.

“I’ll meet you here after the last class and take you up,” Draco told them as he got up with his books in hand.


	20. 20. Unexpected Guests

  
Author's notes: Harry and Draco discover their past are more similar than either realized... thanks to a little help. But at what cost? And what will Dumbledore do to keep his Weapon on track?

This story has 23 chapters in total.  


* * *

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 20 – Unexpected Guests 

Sirel followed Snape out of the great hall and into an empty classroom nearby. “What happened last night?” he asked, turning to face her once the door was closed and locked. 

She climbed onto the seat of a nearby desk and sat on the table to look at him. She didn’t even pretend ignorance as to what he meant. After all, they had agreed to be honest with each other. “Karal came to my room and healed me.”

Snape blinked in surprise. Whatever he’d thought the answer would be, that hadn’t been it. “Really? I thought he wasn’t supposed to interfere with the happenings here?”

“Ah,” Sirel said with a finger held up. “But he didn’t interfere.” At Snape’s raised eyebrow, she tilted her head to one side. “Not really, anyway.”

“Explain.”

“Well, they put me here to teach me a lesson, right?” He nodded, patiently listening. “How can I learn anything, if I’m too sick to learn that lesson? Besides, he can’t interfere in what happens in anyone else’s lives. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be here, except that I didn’t follow the rules.”

“By interfering in what was supposed to happen to Harry and Draco.” It wasn’t a question. They both knew it was a fact. Her presence here was proof of that.

Snape looked at her for a few more seconds before he held out a piece of paper to her. “This will be your class schedule,” he told her as he walked over to the door. Opening it, she could see a young boy of eleven waiting patiently for them. “This is Michael. He’s to be your guide for this week. Class starts in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, professor,” Sirel murmured respectfully and hopped off the desk, walking over to Michael. “Hi, Michael. I’m Sirel, Harry’s cousin.”

“Harry Potter?” The surprise and awe were apparent on his face.

Sirel looked at him in disgust. “You’re not going to start drooling, are you?” she drawled sarcastically. Snape felt his lips twitch at her tone.

Michael’s mouth snapped shut and he frowned down at her. “Of course not.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to ditch you before I know where all my classes are. After all, Harry’s just a normal teenager. It’s not his fault a maniac has it in for him.” She began walking away from him, leaving Michael to scramble after her.

* * *

Harry finally managed to push all thoughts of Sirel out of his head during Potions class. Both he and Draco had agreed at the start of the year that, since Ron wasn’t likely to get over his anger over Harry being friends with Draco, Harry would need a new partner.

For some odd reason, this seemed to be improving his mark in the class. Draco spent time whispering hints about the potion they were working on and Harry was finally getting the hang of ignoring Snape, who still mocked him in class, a trick Draco had showed him during their summer together.

Snape had explained that to change his attitude towards Harry in class would make the students wonder what was going on… more so than they were doing now, of course. 

This time, though, instead of the Slytherins trying to sabotage Harry’s work, the Gryffindors seemed bent on sabotaging Harry and Draco. It was as if they thought he’d turned traitor. That he was abandoning them for the enemy.

Quite frankly, he was getting tired of it. He was going to have to do something about this, and soon. He had to talk to Hermione, perhaps she could give him some insight as to the mood of the Gryffindors and how to get them to see things his way.

* * *

Sirel enjoyed her first day. She’d only had to ditch Michael twice, when he’d decided it would be a good idea to introduce ‘Harry Potter’s cousin’ to his friends, much to Sirel’s disgust, but he’d always managed to find her anywhere she went.

After the third class, she’d finally put her foot down and flat out refused to meet any more of his friends. “Come on, Sirel. How else are you going to make friends here?” he’d argued.

She’d turned on him, pinning him to the wall, much to Michael’s surprise, considering he was taller than she was by a foot and an half. She’d used her powers, but he hadn’t know that. “I don’t _want_ to meet your friends. They’re not interested in me, only in Harry. _I. Don’t. Care!_ And if you keep pushing me, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”

Michael had been shaken, but had let the matter drop. He’d even stopped trying to impress people by using Sirel, much to her relief.

Right now, she was sitting on the couch, eyes closed, trying to get rid of the slight pressure behind her eyes.

That was where Harry and Draco found her. Harry frowned at the look of pain on her face. “How was your day?” he asked her curiously.

She opened her eyes and sighed. “It was alright... for the most part. I just hope Michael remembers to stop pushing me at his friends.”

Draco laughed at that. “Did you set him straight?”

“I kinda pushed him into a wall and threatened to take matters into my own hands if he didn’t stop,” she told them with a sheepish grin. “I used my powers to do it, but he didn’t argue with me.”

“Good for you,” Draco told her as he set his books on the table in front of the couch, where he could do his homework after supper.

Harry shot Draco a warning look. “We don’t want her to start a fight, remember? It might get her _too_ much attention.”

“Oh, I won’t fight him,” Sirel told them with a shrug. “I’m just tired of being used to get favours for Michael. He was getting too much attention and was promising to get you to show up on his behalf,” she told Harry, whose eyebrows rose in surprise. She looked over at Draco, then. “Did you tell him that Blaise and Pansy were coming up?”

“Oh, shit. I forgot!” Draco turned on his heel and left the room.

Harry looked at the portrait hole and then at Sirel. “What was that all about?”

“I asked them to come up. They want to know what all the secrecy is about. They didn’t believe the story about me being your cousin.”

“This should be interesting, then. Hermione might not mind, but Ron is going to have kittens,” Harry murmured, feeling his eyebrows rise at the thought of so many people in one room who didn’t really like each other.

“So,” Sirel asked with an innocent smile. “How many places at the table do you think we’ll need?”

* * *

To say there was tension in the room was a gross understatement and it only got worse the longer everyone was there. It started with Draco coming in with Blaise and Pansy.

All things considered, Harry handled it quite well. He greeted them stiffly at first, which - considering their past - was understandable.

“So, Harry, I hear you have a cousin besides the one you grew up with. Where did she come from?” Blaise asked, his eyes alight with curiosity, wanting to break the tension.

“Yes, do tell,” Pansy murmured innocently.

Harry looked uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his neck. Sirel knew he was thinking of a way out of telling them the truth and decided to take matters into her own hands. “Actually, I’m not related to Harry in the slightest,” Sirel told them from her perch on the arm of the couch. 

“Sirel.”

She sighed impatiently at Harry’s warning look. “Oh, come on, Harry. Even you knew the lie wouldn’t really hold up, especially for those who know you too well. Blaise and Pansy knew right away that it was a lie and no one told them it was.”

“Really?” Harry asked, surprised. He hadn’t know that.  
Pansy snorted. “Of course not. Draco isn’t big on details. He’d rather we figure things out for ourselves.”

“You enjoy it and you know it,” Draco retorted in amusement.

“True,” Blaise said with a shrug. “So, who is she?”

Harry looked at Sirel and shrugged to let her know it was up to her. “I’m a History Guardian. We record what happens down here.”

Pansy and Blaise looked at her blankly.

“She means she doesn’t belong on this plane. They watch our lives like the Muggles would watch their television,” Draco clarified. 

“Oooh,” they said in unison.

“So then what happened?” Pansy asked.

“I broke the rules. I interfered.”

“She helped Draco and me out of a… situation we were in. She tried to tell us she might get in trouble over it, but we didn’t think it would be this severe,” Harry added, just to clarify that too.

“And that’s why she’s being cared for by you and Draco?” Blaise asked, watching as both Harry and Draco nodded. “How long is she here for?”

“We’re not quite sure yet. We weren’t told any details, just to watch over her. That’s why we’ve told everyone that Sirel is Harry’s cousin, just to keep this between a few of us,” Draco told them.

“Who else knows?”

“So far? Professors McGonagall, Snape and Lupin. Hermione, and Madam Pomfrey. Ron doesn’t know all that much. We’d prefer that not too many people knew about what Sirel is, just in case You-Know-Who finds out,” Draco told them seriously.

The portrait swung open just then, allowing Hermione and Ron in. Sirel frowned when she saw someone come in behind Ron, but couldn’t quite make out who it was until Ron moved out of the way. “What’s _she_ doing here?” she asked Ron angrily. What was the point of keeping people out if they were invited in by anyone else?

Ron frowned at her. “I told her she could come.”

She sighed angrily and hopped off the couch, walking away from the group, heading for her private room.

“Don’t you think you should have asked us before you invited anyone here?” Harry demanded, glaring from Ron to Ginny.  
Ron shrugged in confusion. “Why shouldn’t she be invited? Besides, who invited _them_?”

“I did,” Draco told him, folding his arms across his chest. “We didn’t invite _her_.” He glared at Ginny, who glared back at him.

“Well, I’m here now so what difference does it make?” Ginny asked, walking over to Harry, smiling coyly up at him, placing a hand on his arm.

Harry frowned and pulled away from her. “I’d better check on Sirel,” he muttered, nodding to Draco. Harry shook his head when Ginny went to follow him. “Stay here.”

“Mind if I come, Harry? We seemed to hit it off this morning,” Pansy asked politely. When Harry nodded, Pansy followed him to the room where Sirel was hiding and knocked.

“What?” The tone was angry.

“Can Pansy and I come in?”

The door opened a crack, allowing Sirel to see who was at the door. “Fine.”

* * * 

Ginny watched as Pansy was allowed to follow Harry to the room where the brat had vanished. _How dare he choose that_ bitch _over me?_

She’d been attacked as soon as they’d seen her enter the room! She’d had to do some quick talking to get Ron to invite her along. Harry was being unfair, getting mad at his best friend over that _brat_. 

_What made her so special?_

She’d hoped Harry would at least be happy to see her, since they were away from prying eyes. His reaction had been a surprise. Was it because Malfoy and his cronies were in the room and he didn’t want her to get hurt?

That had to be it. He was happy to see her here, she was sure of it.

She’d have to work fast if she was going to get Harry to admit he was still her boyfriend… but how?

* * *

“Come on, Sirel. You can’t hide in here all night and you have to eat something,” Harry told the little girl. They were sitting on the sand, watching her. “I know you don’t like Ginny, but what’s done is done. Are you going to let her ruin this evening?”

Sirel glared at him. “Tell me Harry, how am I safe if anyone can be invited in by anyone in _that_ room? Why don’t we let them invite the _whole_ school?”

“Why don’t you tell the portrait that he can only allow people you, Draco or Harry invite in personally?” Pansy suggested, looking from Sirel to Harry and back again. It had taken her a few minutes to get over the look of the room, but now she understood why Sirel liked it. It was soothing in here, calming.

“I thought that had already been done,” Sirel said with a frown.

“I thought so too,” Harry murmured softly, frowning in thought. “I’ll have a talk with Cornelius. This won’t happen again, and I’ll see if I can’t stop Ginny from coming in unannounced like she did tonight,” Harry promised, getting to his feet and he held out a hand to her. “Are you ready to go out there and show her she can’t push you around?”

She sighed tiredly, giving Pansy the impression that she was older than she really was. “Might as well. Do I get the right to kick her out if she pisses me off too much?”

Harry shrugged indifferently. “Why not? This is your home too. You should have a say in who stays just as much as we do.”

“Good.” She took Harry’s hand and he pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go. But if she tries any of her clinging, she’s going to have to go.”

Pansy laughed as she followed behind them. “You tell her, girl.”

Harry laughed too. Maybe Pansy would be a good ally to have on their side, after all. And if Blaise was of the same thought, he, too, would be a good ally. He had to trust that Draco wouldn’t put Sirel in any danger if he could help it.


	21. 21. Betrayal

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 21 – Betrayal

Draco was frowning as Ginny draped herself over his lover’s arm for the fifth time that night. Quite frankly, if he could have ousted her without offending the Weasel, he’d have kicked her out hours ago. She was making a fool of herself, didn’t she see that?

“That’s enough Ginny,” Sirel drawled from her seat beside Draco. Apparently, she was getting just as tired of Ginny trying to paw Harry as much as he was. Even Draco could see the exasperation on Harry's face as he attempted to disengage her. “Let go of Harry, he’s not a tree to be mauled by a bear intent on marking its territory.”

Ginny’s face reddened as the others laughed and she turned to glare at the little girl. “Harry, you’re not going to let her talk to me like that, are you?” she pouted, turning to look at him. Draco noticed Hermione had a tight hold on Ron’s arm, telling him not to get involved.

“Yes, I am,” Harry told her, prying her arms away from him... again.

“Especially since you’re not listening to him,” Draco added maliciously. “If you don’t like it, you can always leave.”

Ginny glared at Draco, then at Sirel. “Since I’m not wanted here, I’m going back to Gryffindor Tower,” she huffed, standing up. When Harry didn’t say anything, she frowned down at him and walked towards the portrait, head held high.

“It’s about time you took the hint,” Draco drawled, making Blaise and Pansy snigger while Sirel and Hermione bit their lip to keep from grinning. Ron merely frowned, but she _was_ being kind of pig-headed where Harry was concerned.

_They’ll pay for this!_ Ginny thought as she stomped towards the portrait hole.

* * *

Dumbledore waited outside the portrait, pacing back and forth. He knew if he was patient enough, the right moment would present itself and he’d be able to get inside. All he had to do was be patient and wait.

Just then, the portrait swung open and he quickly ducked behind the suit of armor that was facing it. He was surprised when he saw Ginny Weasley come storming out. She was breathing hard and began pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself. It was easy to see that she was angry, but with whom, he didn’t know.

When she finally stopped pacing, Dumbledore decided that now would be a good time to approach the young lady and put his plan into action.

“Ah, Miss Weasley, just the person I was looking for. May we speak for a moment?” he asked, stepping forward into the light.

* * *

Later that night, Harry and Draco settled into bed, secure in the knowledge that Sirel was finally asleep. They undressed for bed, but something seemed different with Harry tonight. Draco could sense it.

He frowned slightly as he watched his lover as he stretched out on the bed, smiling seductively, wearing only his boxers. Harry sat down beside him and leaned down to kiss him. Draco ran his fingers through Harry’s hair, making him sigh with pleasure. He smiled at how easy it was to arouse Harry. He was so sensitive to touch.

He was about to pull Harry closer when Harry pulled away a little. 

“I want tonight to be different,” he murmured softly against Draco’s lip, “to go further than before.”

Draco pulled back and searched his face for any hint of hesitation. “Are you sure? We don’t have to do it tonight.”

Harry smiled gently and kissed the tip of Draco’s nose, his smile deepening when Draco scrunched up his nose. “I’m sure, and I’m confident you’ll stop if I ask you to.”

Draco sat up slowly and looked deep into Harry’s eyes for a few seconds before he leaned forward and brushed his lips over Harry’s, teasingly. Harry tried to deepen the kiss but Draco pulled away before he could.

He laughed huskily when Harry growled and tangled his hand in Draco’s hair, pulling him closer and forcing the kiss. He leaned back, taking Draco with him as he lay back on the pillows without breaking the kiss.

Draco pulled back after a few minutes of exploring Harry’s mouth, looking down at Harry, seeing the passion that darkened his lover’s eyes. He began kissing his way down Harry’s chest, flicking his nipples with his tongue, loving the sound of Harry’s moans. 

“Draco,” Harry murmured, arching up invitingly, letting his hands wander up Draco’s back to tangle in the silky silver strands. Draco’s tongue dipped down, licking at the navel beneath him, watching as Harry gasped in pleasure. “Gods, yes.” 

Draco chuckled and helped Harry wriggle out of his boxers. Once Harry was naked, Draco stopped, looking down at the body stretched out before him. “Beautiful,” Draco murmured before he leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Harry’s belly. With infinite care, Draco kissed his way towards his goal. 

Once he’d reached Harry’s cock, he paused to look up at him. Harry was watching him, anticipation clear in his eyes as he held his breath, waiting to see if Draco would continue. 

With a wicked smile, Draco ran his tongue along the underside of his cock and up towards the head.

Harry’s breath exploded out of him in ecstasy. 

Once at the tip, Draco took it into his mouth, sucking hard, loving the feel of the hot skin. He also loved the sounds coming from Harry. He’d never imagined he’d ever hear such sounds coming from this particular person.

“Draco,” Harry panted, gasping as he felt Draco’s tongue rub tantalizingly at the skin under his cock. “If you don’t stop – Oh, gods,” he gasped when Draco gently raked his teeth against the sensitive skin. He couldn’t hold back, his back arched up and he spurted his seed down Draco’s throat.

When Draco pulled away, Harry lay there, gasping for breath, eyes closed. With quick movements, Draco pulled his boxers off and placed Harry’s legs on either side of his. 

With a quick wave of his hand, a jar of lube appeared beside him and he dipped a couple of fingers into the jar. Slowly, he pushed a finger in, determined to make this memorable for Harry. He watched as Harry gasped at the sensation, pushing his hips forward a little.

When he felt Harry was ready for it, he slid a second finger in, thrusting them in and out, feeling the muscles stretch to accommodate them. By now, Harry was moaning at the sensation, arching up to meet his fingers, his cock beginning to stir again. 

Then a third finger joined them.

“That’s right, Harry,” Draco murmured gently as he moved his fingers around, looking for that one spot- Harry’s eyes flew open when he hit it, gasping in surprise and arching with pleasure. 

“Gods, Draco,” he gasped as Draco hit his prostate again. 

“Like that?” Draco asked softly, moving his fingers again. All Harry could do was moan at the sensation Draco’s fingers were causing. Draco chuckled and pulled his hand away, ignoring Harry’s protest.

He rubbed some lube on his cock and lined himself up with Harry’s hole. With a slow movement of his hips, he pushed into Harry, closing his eyes as he savoured the feeling of sliding into his lover. Once he was full in, he opened his eyes to see Harry watching him.

“Are you alright?” he asked, straining to remain still instead of thrusting like his body wanted him to. Harry nodded and his muscles tightened around his shaft, which caused Draco to gasp in pleasure. Slowly, he began to move, moaning at the feeling, wanting to pound the body beneath him, but determined to take his time.

“Faster,” Harry murmured, his own cock beginning to throb with pleasure again as Draco thrust up against the sweet spot. 

Draco didn’t need to be told twice, but thrust deeply, his moans of pleasure blending with Harry’s as the other man arched up to meet it. Soon, he was pounding into Harry, striving to reach his own orgasm. 

Reaching down, Harry began to fist himself, timing his movements to Draco’s thrusts. Gasps and moans filled the room as both young men neared orgasm. Draco cried Harry’s name as he thrust deeply inside, spilling his seed inside him, followed quickly by Harry.

Panting heavily, Draco lay down beside Harry, an arm draped across his chest. It was a long time before either had enough strength to cast the Cleaning charm and pull the blankets over themselves.

* * *

Sirel had been attending classes for about a week when she finally got her coreless wand. Apparently, she was also doing well in the classes she’d been allowed to attend. One Gryffindor, deciding he didn’t like being shown up by a kid who wasn’t even supposed to be there yet, began picking on her during Potions class.

Harry had heard about this boy from Snape the day after Sirel began attending classes. He frowned as he thought about it. He hadn’t realized she might have any problems with the students in the classes. He’d thought it would’ve been the teachers she’d have a problem with, since she’d learn what they were teaching more quickly than others.

But for some reason this seemed to be the only class that boy shared with her.

Snape told Harry he’d been ready to swoop down on the unexpected student, when Sirel took matters into her own hands. The boy’s wand had appeared in her pocket and she’d quickly levitated the boy to the ceiling, changing his hair to a putrid puce color with his underwear on the outside of his clothes, and all while the boy screamed at the top of his lungs.

And she’d done it all with her new coreless wand.

The boy had been picked on in his classes the rest of that day.

Bested by a five-year old girl, was the word that was going around school now. 

Now, she was watching them silently from the window as they interacted with their friends. 

He was surprised that the inter-house fighting seemed to have died down, almost like the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses felt the differences between their leaders ebb and had agreed to a cease fire.

Sirel probably had something to do with that, as well. Draco had heard that she was telling anyone who asked her why Draco and Harry were no longer fighting was because they had better things to so than fight… like Voldemort. She’d sighed in irritation when everyone had cringed when she’d used his name.

“Harry, I made this for you,” she said, holding up a gift for Harry, when there was a loll in the friendly ribbing and joking.

He looked at her in surprise, he hadn’t even seen her move, and took it from her, opening the box. He held up a couple of intricately designed bracelets and looked at her in question. “One’s yours and the other is Draco’s,” she told them seriously.

Harry handed Draco one of them and put his on his wrist. “Why the gift?” he asked her, tracing the unfamiliar design.

“It's a thank you, for all you've done for me, even though you didn't have to... not really, anyway” She looked at the two young men and wondered if they would survive the encounter. 

Draco blinked at her in surprise. “Wow,” he murmured in awe. “Thank you Sirel, but you didn't have to. It _was_ our fault, in a way, that you got involved.”

She shrugged, little face serious and went upstairs, leaving them all to stare after her. 

Harry was surprised. When did she have time to make these? She hadn’t even hinted that she had been doing something other than her homework. Perhaps Dobby was behind this as well. He’d do anything for that little girl and it _did_ make sense that she would ask him for help.

It was still a wonderful gift and the fact that they matched, made it even more so. It linked Harry and Draco without anyone realizing what they were for.

* * * 

The next day, Sirel was in the tower by herself with Dobby. Today was test day in most of the classes, so she wasn’t required to attend. When they walked into the living room, something hit Sirel on the back and she dropped to the floor. Dobby whirled around and placed himself between the attacker and Sirel, not even realizing he was doing it.

“Why did Mistress Ginny hurt the little Mistress?” he demanded as he faced Ginny Weasley, who stood by the fireplace, wand drawn.

“This brat and Dumbledore have a rendezvous somewhere else right now. Dobby, get out of the way,” Ginny demanded, moving towards Sirel, but Dobby refused to move, placing a barrier around them that Ginny couldn’t get through.

Ginny walked over to the fireplace and threw a handful of Floo powder into it, and called out to the one person who’d never been allowed inside the tower before. “Dumbledore, I’m going to need help.”

The fireplace flared and Dumbledore stepped through. 

“Dobby will not let you hurt the little mistress,” Dobby said defiantly.

“You will get out of the way, Dobby,” Dumbledore said, eyes flashing dangerously. “One way or the other, you _will_ get out of the way.”

* * *

Harry and Draco were just packing up their things from potions class, joking about something that had happened in Transfiguration class earlier.

_*Help!!*_

Both boys and Snape looked at each other, at the Sending and took off running, Hermione and Ron following behind them. They had no idea what was happening, but if all three of them were running, it couldn’t be good.

“Heir apparent,” Harry gasped, dimly registering Remus running from the other direction, as he screeched to a halt outside the portrait, waiting impatiently for the door to open.

“I’m so sorry, son. I didn’t know what she was planning,” Cornelius said sorrowfully as the portrait swung open. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl for Harry. 

Dobby was on the floor, struggling to get up; blood flowed from some cuts on his arms, nose and a cut near his left eye.

“Dobby sorry, Harry Potter. Dobby tried to stop them,” Dobby gasped out, eyes bright with unshed tears and pain.

“Who did this, Dobby?” Draco asked when it looked like Harry couldn’t speak.

“Dumbledore and the Weasley girl came and took the mistress away through the fireplace. Dobby couldn’t stop them,” the house-elf said again, bowing his head in sadness. He had failed. “They petrified the mistress and made her drink something,” the house-elf told them, giving them the empty phial he’d managed to hide from Dumbledore and Ginny.

Draco placed a hand on Dobby’s shoulder, taking the phial from him and handing it over to Snape. “It’s okay, Dobby. We know you tried. Did they say where they were taking her?” Dobby shook his head. Draco helped the house-elf to his feet and looked at Harry.

“I’m going to kill them,” Harry murmured, eyes flashing murderously. Everything in the room shook slightly.

“Harry, you can’t,” Draco said, shaking him roughly.

“Watch me.”

“Harry!” Draco yelled, shaking him harder. “Think of Sirel! If you kill them, you’ll be sent to Azkaban. Then who’ll save her? You know they took her because she was interfering with their plans. Ginny because she was an obstacle to you and Dumbledore because you weren’t thinking of You-Know-Who. He wouldn’t have touched her otherwise. He wouldn’t have dared,” Draco said, trying to make Harry see reason. He didn’t care for the old buzzard, or the bitch, anymore than Harry did, but right now, Sirel needed them. “Severus, can you figure out where they took her?” he asked, turning to the Potions master when it looked like Harry might listen. “And what they gave her?”

“I think I have an idea of where,” Snape murmured, eyes narrowed in thought, before sniffing the phial. “But, this potion… if it’s what I think it is, it’ll dampen her powers. To the point where she might not be able to use them. I’m not sure just what it’ll do to her, considering how different she is from us.”

“ _I_ can tell you where she is,” they heard from above them. They looked up at Ginny coming down the steps, a smug smile on her face. “Dumbledore took her to _Him_. This is for the best, Harry. She was just stopping you from doing what you were supposed to do. As for the potion, it’s a containment potion. We couldn’t risk her trying to use any magic to get out of her situation before Harry could kill Him.”

Harry growled angrily and it took everything in Draco to keep him off of her as she got closer. “How could you do that?” he demanded. “She’s only _five_.”

“Dumbledore said she wasn’t supposed to be here. I agree, you should have sent her to Mother’s,” Ginny said, her tone reasonable, like it made sense to her.

Hermione walked over to Ginny and hit her hard, the blow so hard she rendered the other girl unconscious. She raised an eyebrow when the other girl went down so quickly. “I didn’t think it would be that simple,” she murmured, looking down at Ginny’s crumpled form on the floor before turning to look at Harry. “So what do we do now, Harry?”


	22. 22. To The Rescue

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 22 – To The Rescue

“My Lord,” Lucius murmured, dragging a little girl behind him. “This came for you, along with this note.”

Voldemort looked down at the terrified child before him before taking the note from Lucius. He gave a bark of laughter when he finished reading it. “So, this is Potter’s new toy, is it?” he murmured, looking down at the girl again, who flinched as if he’d touched her. “Perhaps this could be amusing. If Potter knows where to find her, he’ll come straight to me just to get her back.” He smiled cruelly at her and let the letter slide out of his fingers, letting it flutter down to the floor.

* * *

Harry had just finished packing his backpack with everything he’d need for the rescue. He made sure he was wearing the bracelet Sirel had given him and noticed Draco was wearing his as well.

Looking around at the rest of the group, they turned to look at him when they were ready. They were all wearing leather combat robes that were snug against their bodies. Harry hadn’t even thought about that before, but was surprised and touched when Remus had given a set to him then one to Draco.

An unexpected addition to their team was Tonks. Apparently, she and Remus were something of an item these days, which had surprised Harry a little. He hadn’t even known they’d been seeing each other.

He was glad for the werewolf, though, now at least he had someone to rely on. He needed something constant in his life. “Everyone ready?” he asked quietly. 

Everyone looked at him and nodded, faces determined.

Suddenly, a feeling of overwhelming fear filled the room. 

_*Help me!*_

Harry looked over at Draco, who nodded grimly to say he’d heard and felt it too. Then they got a picture of a huge house and Draco gasped, eyes wide. The next picture was of Voldemort standing before her with his wand in his hand.

“She’s at the Manor,” Draco whispered, afraid for Sirel. He didn’t know what would happen to her, but it couldn’t be good. 

They got a feeling of intense pain, heard a scream before it all vanished, leaving everyone gasping in relief, as if a weight had been lifted. It took them a minute to recover from the Sending.

It had been heavy… heavier than the first Sending and sluggish, like she’d had to put an effort into the Sending. 

_Maybe it’s the containment potion that’s making it sluggish_ , Harry thought to himself, face tightening in anger once more.

“We need to get her out of there as quickly as possible,” Harry told them, looking at each one in turn. “Does everyone know where they’re Apparating to?”

In turn, each one nodded. There was no need for words at this point.

Harry gasped suddenly and clutched at his forehead as an overwhelming feeling of dark pleasure came through his scar and the room dissolved around him. He was watching through Voldemort’s eyes as the bastard tortured the little girl on the floor before him.

When it passed, he noticed that Draco was kneeling beside him and that Harry was on his knees, panting. He looked up to see them looking at him worriedly. “Let’s go,” Harry said, face set in a murderous mask, forcing himself to his feet. 

He would kill Dumbledore for this.

They Apparated away.

* * *

They were on the perimeter of the Malfoy grounds, looking at the imposing manor in the distance. “Let’s make this quick. Voldemort is mine, the rest are fair game,” he told them. Everyone nodded and Draco keyed them all into the wards, making sure it wouldn’t raise the alarm before they were ready.

They slowly made their way towards the manor, making sure not to catch any of the Death Eater’s attention who were on guard outside.

Harry was finally hiding behind a bush about fifteen feet from the Manor, waiting for the others to get into position. He didn’t have long to wait. When everyone was in place, he headed for the door with Draco on his heels.   
Everyone knew where to go. 

The fight began the moment they got close to the house, with two Death Eaters being tied and gagged right away. Harry didn’t care what spells he used – even using the Cruciatus Curse on one or two – to get through to the door quickly. When he got closer to the writhing figures however, he just rendered them unconscious. 

He wasn’t a killer, after all.

That was Voldemort’s game.

It took Harry a few more minutes to get to the room where Voldemort was torturing Sirel. The little girl lay curled up in a ball on the floor, panting hard, eyes closed.

* * *

The moment Voldemort realized what was happening, he realized the grave mistake he’d made in accepting this gift. Whoever had sent her had known what would happen, had probably anticipated this happening, in fact.

He watched as the Boy-Who-Lived deflected spells the way he hadn’t been able to do at the Ministry. This boy had somehow learned things he shouldn’t have been allowed to learn, and he wondered whose doing that was. His eyes narrowed when he saw Draco behind the cursed boy.

“Take care of him, Lucius, and don’t disappoint me again,” he hissed, eyes narrowed dangerously. Lucius bowed respectfully and walked away, drawing his wand, face set.

The only thing he _could_ do now, was make sure he killed the cursed boy. He threw the Cruciatus curse on the little girl again, knowing that would attract the boy’s attention. If he couldn’t avoid Harry, he’d bring him closer so he could kill him. He saw Harry’s head turn in his direction when the girl screamed, little body writhing on the floor.

Voldemort smiled cruelly and watched as Harry cut a path through his Death Eaters to get closer.

“That’s enough, Tom. Let her go. She’s not the one you want, after all.” Even now, standing defiantly twenty feet away, the boy dared talk to him as if he was an equal.

Voldemort snarled in distaste and threw more power into the curse, just to prove that Harry wasn’t in charge. He saw the anger sparking from the boy’s eyes as the girl screamed louder. A few moments later, he cancelled the curse and watched out of the corner of his eye as the girl laid there, body twitching and smiled at the pain he glimpsed in Harry’s eyes for a moment.

“You realize that I’m going to kill you, right?” Harry told him without emotion.

“I know you’ll try,” Voldemort hissed at him. “Prepare to die, Harry Potter.”

He faced Harry and every spells he threw at the boy were deflected, as if they were nothing but flies. He glared at Harry, throwing another spell at the cursed boy, but it too, was easily deflected.

Deciding he’d played enough games, he threw the Avada Kedavra curse at him. Harry quickly transfigured a piece of paper that lay in front of him into a mirror. The spell bounced harmlessly off the surface… and was sent straight back to Voldemort. 

When the remaining Death Eaters saw their leader fall, they lost interest in fighting. A few ran away, throwing away their wands, and the others surrendered, also throwing their wands down.

Harry hurried over to Sirel, worried about what Voldemort might have done to her. He lifted her into his arms. His heart sped up in fear when her head lolled back limply and he fumbled to check her pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it, faint, but there.

He looked up and was surprised to see Draco beside him, looking worriedly down at Sirel. He had a cut on his cheek and on his shoulder, but otherwise unharmed. “How is she?”

“Still alive. I think we should take her to Madam Pomfrey, just in case there’s some damage we can’t see,” Harry told him as he rose to his feet.

They turned to look at the others. “Go, Harry,” Remus told them as the others rounded up the remaining Death Eaters. “The ministry won’t be long. Professor McGonagall will have told them everything by now.”

“Thanks,” Harry murmured and they headed out of the Manor to where they could Apparate away safely. 

When they got back, Professor McGonagall was waiting for them. “The Ministry just took Dumbledore and Ginny Weasley into custody,” she told them grimly. “It seems someone let slip what they did to Sirel.”

“Good,” Harry murmured, before he and Draco walked towards the hospital wing to have Sirel looked after, leaving the Gryffindor Head of House frowning after them in disapproval, but there wasn’t much she could say.

Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk when they walked in. Hearing the noise of the door opening, she rushed out of her office to see what was wrong. “What happened?” she asked, frowning at them.

“Dumbledore sent Sirel to Voldemort. Can you check her over? He was using the Cruciatus curse on her,” Harry told her. She motioned to the nearest bed and Harry laid her down.

Stepping back so he wouldn’t be in the way, Harry felt Draco’s hands at his waist, pulling Harry back against his chest. “Don’t worry, she’ll be alright. He didn’t have her long.” 

Harry didn’t say anything, but pressed back against Draco, seeking some comfort. The adrenaline was starting to ebb away and he was starting to get tired now. He forced himself to stay on his feet, wanting to make sure Sirel was alright first.

When the Mediwitch turned back to face them, she was frowning. “She seems fine, bodily. Only time will tell if there’s any lasting mental damage. If there is, you‘ll know right away.”

“Can we take her back to the tower?” Draco asked when Harry sagged against him in relief.

“I can’t see why not. If there’s any changes, let me know.”

Draco nodded and Harry went over to the bed, picking the little girl up. They walked quietly back to the tower. “Cornelius, don’t let _anyone_ in unless we come out to get them,” he ordered as Harry walked in. 

“Of course,” Cornelius told him, face determined. Draco knew he wouldn’t fail again.

When Draco walked in, Harry was nowhere in sight, but he knew where he’d find him. He walked upstairs and into Sirel’s bedroom, but Harry wasn’t there. The little girl lay on her bed, blankets pulled over her still form.

Frowning, he walked into their bedroom. He found Harry there, leaning against the window frame. “We failed her, Draco.”

“How so?” Draco asked, walking over to him, leaning on the other side of the window frame, watching Harry carefully.

“We didn’t protect her like we were supposed to. Voldemort should _never_ have been able to get his hands on her,” Harry murmured softly. 

“But, Harry, that wasn’t our fault. We didn’t expect Ginny or Dumbledore to turn against us like that. If you want to get angry, then get angry with the right people. Those two are to blame and we didn’t invite them in, either. Ron invited his sister without asking us and Ginny more than likely let Dumbledore in. They’re gone now and she’s safe again.”

Harry looked over at him. “How can we be sure of that? Who’s to say it won’t happen again?”

“We’ll make sure of it. We can’t protect her from everything, Harry,” Draco murmured, squeezing his arm to get his attention. “We have to let her explore on her own or she’ll be afraid to do anything on her own.”

Harry sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “I guess,” he murmured tiredly.

“Come to bed, Harry. She’ll need us later and we need to be rested,” Draco told him, pushing away from the windowsill. With another sigh, Harry turned away from the window.


	23. 23. Pregnant?

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 23 – Pregnant!?

During the first week that followed Voldemort’s defeat, Harry and Draco were hounded by the press and fellow classmates, wanting to get the gory details of what had happened at Malfoy Manor, but no one seemed inclined to answer any questions.

No one who knew the reason behind the dismissal was surprised to hear that Dumbledore was no longer Headmaster of Hogwarts, though his successor _was_ a surprise: Snape was now Headmaster. As for Ginny, Harry had pleaded to have her committed instead of sent to Azkaban with Dumbledore, saying that it wasn’t her fault, not completely, anyway, much to Draco’s annoyance. He understood Harry’s reluctance though, his lover didn’t want to cause more pain to the Weasleys, who were his surrogate family and she _was_ part of that family.

The first week after the final battle, they watched Sirel closely to see if what Voldemort had done to her had left permanent mental scars. Even Remus, when he came for visits, watched her but for the most part, she seemed to be like her old self… though sometimes, Harry or Draco caught her staring at the fire or staring out the window she’d be sitting at, usually when she didn’t think they were watching her. 

On those occasions, Draco or Harry would distract her or take her to visit with their friends, or the puppy would jump on her lap and lick her face, wanting to play, or even Dobby, who had recovered from his own ordeal, tried to keep the little girl distracted. 

Harry was beginning to worry that they might not be able to help her. She showed that she was coping well… but, was she? She woke them up at night with screams and nightmares, which they’d been told were normal, that it was a way for her to cope with what had happened.

They took her to visit with Hagrid and Fang, which she wasn’t sure if she liked or not, though she loved the gentle giant. Hagrid took an instant liking to the little girl, especially when she showed no fear around him.

Harry took her took her to visit with Hedwig. She liked the owl a lot, liking the way the bird nibbled at her fingers when she fed her treats. He even took her to visit with Firenze… though he’d come out of those visits with a headache and a slightly glazed look at the things they would talk about.

“Do you think she’ll ever recover from what happened to her?” Harry asked one night as he and Draco lay in bed.

Draco was running his fingers through Harry’s hair, loving the feel of the dark curls as they slid through his fingers. “Time will tell, I guess. Has she talked about it at all?”

Harry pushed himself up on his elbow to look into his lover’s face. “Thinking of becoming a philosopher?” he asked in amusement, which earned him a gentle tug on his hair.

“Prat,” Draco murmured jokingly. 

“If she’s talked to someone, I haven’t heard about it,” Harry told him, tilting his head to one side. “Maybe she just needs time.”

“How about we think about something else for a little while,” Draco murmured, pressing up against Harry suggestively.

Harry’s eyes darkened as he looked into Draco’s face. “Of course,” he murmured before claiming Draco’s lips in a passionate kiss.

* * *

A couple of weeks before Christmas, Harry caught Sirel smiling as she lay stretched out beside him while he ran his fingers soothingly through her hair, with her head on Harry’s belly. “What are you smiling about?” he teased, reaching out to tickle her.

Sirel giggled and slapped his hand away. “I’m listening,” she told him, returning to her former position. 

Draco was sitting on the chair, going over Harry’s homework, making sure he hadn’t made any mistakes. “Listening to what?” he asked, looking up from the parchment, watching her curiously.

“To her heartbeat, of course,” she murmured softly.

“What?” Harry asked, sitting up, ignoring her squeak of protest. “Who’s heartbeat?”

“The baby’s, of course. Who's else could it be, silly.” Sirel rolled her eyes and shook her head at his reaction as she sat up.

Harry looked over at Draco. “Is that even possible?” he asked his lover, frowning in puzzlement.

Draco shrugged. “I’ve never heard of it happening before. Maybe Severus can tell us.” They rose to their feet and watched as Sirel bounded ahead of them, trying to catch the puppy. When they got to Snape’s door, both boys were laughing at the sight awaiting them as they finally neared Snape’s door.

“Come on, Drey! Let go!” The puppy was dragging her back by her pants, refusing to let her go, growling playfully. “I want to be first!”

Snape came out to see what was happening and felt his lips twitch at the sight. 

Sirel turned to glare at the puppy. “You’re supposed to listen to me, you stupid dog! Let go!” She let out a squeak of surprise when the puppy finally listened and let her go to fall on her hands and knees, then pounced on her to wash her face. 

They laughed as they listened to Sirel sputter as the puppy gave her a good face wash before Draco bent and picked Drey up off the little girl.

Snape held out a hand to Sirel, helping her to her feet, and then the new headmaster led the way into his rooms, wondering what the visit was about.

* * *

“So,” Harry said after he’d explained everything to Snape. “Is it possible?”

Snape’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Yes, I think I remember hearing about something like this a few years ago. It happens, but it’s rare. Usually you need the help of a potion, but then nothing that has ever happened to you,” he told Harry with a raised eyebrow, “has ever been normal.”

Harry groaned, running a hand over his face. “Great, just what I need: more abnormality.”

“Don’t you want a baby?” Sirel asked Harry, frowning at his reaction. Most people were happy to be having a child.

“I hadn’t really thought about it, actually,” he told her honestly. “I hadn’t thought it was possible for me, since I don’t like sleeping with girls and girls are usually the ones to have babies.”

“And now?” a new voice asked from behind Harry, startling everyone. Harry whipped around, Sirel cradled protectively in his arms. He didn’t even remember moving.

“Karal!” Sirel cried happily, struggling to get down. Harry let her go and she ran to give the Guardian a hug. Karal laid a hand on the top of her head.

“I remember you. You were the one who told us to take care of Sirel while she was being punished,” Draco said, surprised to see the Guardian. “Are you here to take her back?”

Harry felt a stab of regret at loosing Sirel. He’d gotten used to having her around. 

“No. Sirel,” Karal murmured, pulling her away from his leg so he could bend down to look at her. “I’m here to tell you what the second part of your punishment is. Are you ready for this?”

“Will it hurt?” she asked apprehensively.

“Not one bit,” he assured her with a loving smile, caressing her cheek. “Go stand in front of Harry.”

Her face lit up as she realized what he was going to do, and threw her arms around Karal’s neck. “Thank you. I love you,” she whispered in his ear. “Papa.” Then she bounced over to Harry, hugging him too.

“Goodbye, Sirel,” Karal murmured and passed his hand in the air in her direction. 

Sirel’s body began to dissolve, slowly turning into a mist. It hovered around Harry for a few seconds before it wrapped itself around his midsection, before it slowly sank inside where the tiny spark of life resided. 

Everyone was silent, stunned by what had happened. 

“I didn’t think she knew,” Karal murmured, standing up, still looking at Harry’s flat stomach before looking up at the boy’s eyes. “She was too curious for us to raise properly,” he told them, though he didn’t have to. “It happens sometimes, though not often. Take good care of my little girl.”

“Umm… before you leave though, I have a question. How can she be the baby when the baby was already there?” Snape asked curiously, looking up at Karal.

“There was a child there, yes, but at the stage it’s at, it can still be manipulated to receive a consciousness, which it didn’t have.” He watched in amusement as all three men looked at him in confusion. “Think of it as an empty cauldron, ready to receive ingredients for a potion. Sirel was the ingredients to make the baby sentient.”

“So, in other words, the baby I I’m carrying was an empty shell? How can that be?” Harry asked as he frowned.

Karal smiled secretly and with that, he was gone.

Harry turned to look from Draco, who looked slightly puzzled, to Snape, who actually looked like he understood what Karal had meant. “Explain to me what he meant, sir.”

“He meant that you were supposed to become pregnant, but they manipulated who that child would be.” He sighed impatiently when Harry just frowned at him. “Your daughter was always going to be Sirel, Harry. They just made it possible for the body to be there for her to use.”

“Oh.” 

“So she was _his_ little girl?” Draco murmured softly after a few minutes of silence. “Sirel told me that no one would tell her who her parents were, that all the kids of her kind were cared for by every adult. I guess she figured out part of it herself.” He walked up behind Harry and hugged him, laying a hand on his stomach. “She won’t have to worry about that with us,” he murmured, resting his chin on Harry’s shoulder.

“I wonder if she’ll be like she was before,” Harry murmured in wonder. They were going to be able to keep her! When he’d seen the Guardian, he’d thought she was going home for good, and now she _was_ home.

“Probably,” Snape drawled, rolling his eyes at the display of affection the young men were showing. “Especially if she has you two to keep her on her toes.”

Harry and Draco laughed and sat down again to spend time with Snape.

* * *

“Draco,” Harry murmured, his belly swollen and sore.

“Hm?” Draco didn’t even look up from his book. It was now mid-July and the castle was quiet, and cool compared to the heat outside. They had sat their exams and passed, which was something Harry hadn’t thought possible until Draco had come into his life. 

Draco had postponed his apprenticeship at the Ministry for a few weeks in preparation of the birth of their daughter.  
It was only fitting that she be born at Hogwarts, where Harry felt the most comfortable. It was just a good thing that school was out, this way Draco wouldn’t have to share Harry with others. 

Harry had decided that being an Auror wasn’t for him after all, especially since he was sick of all the fighting. He decided that studying to be a teacher would be better for him. It wasn’t that surprising that the subject he excelled at was Defense Against The Dark Arts, which Remus was willing to let him share next year… until he became a full teacher. Snape had promised he would find another subject for the werewolf to teach.

In the months that had followed the defeat of Voldemort, several of the Death Eaters were put into Azkaban for their part in Voldemort’s plans to take over the wizarding world. The others, who were less involved with Voldemort’s plans, were given fair trials and sentenced accordingly. 

Narcissa was the only one who visited Lucius, saying that he was, after all, her husband.

Harry’s head still spun when he thought of how efficient some of the proceedings had been and how quick everything was settled. Some of the wizarding families who’d been rich at the start of the war were now poor, others, just slightly better off. All the money the Ministry was getting off the profiteers was given to a department dedicated to helping the families who’d been devastated by Voldemort and his followers.

He shook his head and turned to look at Draco, feeling his lips twitch as he anticipated his lover’s reaction to his next words. This was going to be fun… “It’s time.” 

He laughed when Draco’s book went flying and he was at Harry’s side in an instant.

He helped Harry waddle to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey was waiting for them. “Ah, Harry. I thought today might be the day. I’m actually surprised by the ease of this pregnancy. Usually, men have a hard time.”

Harry shrugged and laid down on the bed. “It helps when I don’t have to go very far,” he told her as she gave Draco a chair to sit in. She wasn’t as insensitive as to order him out when his partner was about to deliver, after all. “Did you tell the others to be here today?” Harry asked Draco.

He nodded and gave Harry’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Everyone knows except one and I’m sure Moony’ll find out soon enough.”

They would wait long enough for Madam Pomfrey to give Harry a check up, then they would go on to St. Mungo’s where they were waiting for Harry.

Harry couldn’t wait. He’d finally be able to sleep comfortably again!


	24. 24. Family... At Last!

Beta'd by Bubba

Chapter 24 – Family… At Last!

Harry lay on the hospital bed, sleeping peacefully. 

Draco watched him with a smile of contentment, holding their little girl in his arms. He looked down at her, amazed at how small she was and brushed a gentle finger down her tiny cheek. She stirred a little but settled down into the crook of his arm with a tiny sigh of contentment.

Even now, Draco could tell she had his hair and when she’d opened her eyes earlier he’d seen Harry’s eyes staring back at him. It seemed that this child had combined their best traits into one body. 

She was perfect. 

They’d decided against calling her Sirel, of course. No one but Harry, Draco and Snape knew about that and it wouldn’t do to let the others treat her like they had Sirel. This little girl deserved to live a normal life… well, as normal as could be expected, Draco thought in amusement, considering who her parents were.

Harry was still being haunted by the press, which would probably follow their child as well, but only if they let it.  
Being as quiet as possible, Draco rose to his feet and decided he’d monopolized her long enough. It was time to introduce her to the rest of her new family.

Outside in the waiting room, there were many people crowding the little waiting room. The whole Weasley clan – minus Ginny, of course – were pacing the room. His mother was standing off to one side, watching everyone and talking to Molly Weasley, much to Draco’s surprise. Even Hermione, Snape, McGonagall, Tonks, Blaise and Pansy were waiting to see the new addition to the Potter-Malfoy family. 

He was surprised to see Lupin leaning against the wall next to Tonks. So, the werewolf _had_ made it after all. Harry would be glad. “Harry and I would like to present you to our little girl,” Draco told everyone when he was sure he had his or her attention, smiling proudly. 

He handed her over to Snape, who took her gently. From there, Draco watched as they passed her around, taking turns fawning over the sleeping child. “What are you going to name her?” Narcissa asked Draco as Molly handed the baby to Remus. Draco hadn’t thought the werewolf would know how to hold a baby, and was surprised when he gently cradled her in his arm.

“We decided to name her Marley Lily Potter Malfoy,” Draco informed them, smiling easily.

“Who are you going to choose as her Godparents?” Ron asked as he peered at the baby over Hermione’s shoulder, not trusting himself enough not to drop her.

“Harry wanted Remus to be and I wanted Severus to be, so we compromised. They’ll both be named Godfather for Marley. As for Godmother, I think Hermione and Tonks can handle that,” Draco murmured with a small smile as he watched the stunned look on everyone’s face.

He loved dropping these little bombshells. Now if he could only talk Harry into getting married…

* * *

An angry screech ripped through the air.

Harry and Draco ran into the room to find Drey had a hold of eighteen-month-old Marley by the waistband, keeping her from her favorite toy, which had fallen dangerously close to the lit fireplace. Harry laughed and walked over to pick it up, handing it over to her.

She held it close before she gave the dog a glare. Drey ignored it, letting her go to lick her face until she laughed. “Now, Marley, how many times do we have to tell you to stay away from there?” Harry asked, picking her up, carrying her over to her play park and ruffled her hair. 

It was hard to tell who was more protective of Marley; Drey, Dobby or even Kreacher, whom Harry had retained from the Black house. It was actually funny to watch. The three of them seemed to have come to some sort of arrangement. 

They each took turns watching over her.

The Black house, of course, had been torn down and rebuilt, so Remus and Tonks would have somewhere to live that was their own. Harry had given it to them as a wedding present last year. 

Not long after Marley’s birth, Draco had managed to talk Harry into marrying him. Of course, Narcissa had helped, laying such a guilt trip on Harry that he could hardly refuse. They had been married – privately – four months later. There had been no press and only family and friends had known where the wedding would take place.

Ron had been offended, since he didn’t get to throw a party for Harry like he’d wanted to. He’d insisted that as best man, it was his duty to make sure Harry enjoyed his last day of freedom. Harry had put his foot down for that. 

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts.

The others would be over soon for the Christmas party, and the house was as ready as it was going to be, thanks to the Malfoy house-elves. It was a good thing Narcissa had agreed to let them use the Manor for this party because they never would have had enough room in Harry’s house for everyone.

_Now, if only I could reconcile myself with Ginny…_

The door bell rang, dragging Harry out of _that_ thought.

Harry and Draco both went to greet their guests. They’d opted to live in Harry’s house, leaving Malfoy Manor for Draco’s mother. They couldn’t have done it any other way. It was, after all, her home. Of course, they’d scoured the house, making sure nothing illegal or dangerous was left inside. 

Narcissa was glad that everything had settled down, now. They even took the time to visit with her, since she was Marley’s only living grandmother. A point Molly argued against, saying she was close enough to Harry to be considered a grandmother to Marley.

Harry opened the door and was glad to see the first person who stood on the other side.

Remus was the first person to come in, followed by Tonks… who was very much pregnant. Hermione and Ron were right behind them, followed by the whole Weasley clan. They were greeted warmly before being ushered into the living room where it was nice and warm.

And where Marley had somehow managed to get out of her corner… again. 

“Does she do that often?” Hermione asked them when they told her she’d been in the corner before they’d come in.

“All the time,” Harry said with a smile as they watched her walk over to Remus and Tonks, laying her head against Tonk’s belly, giggling when the baby kicked her. “It’s why the dog, Dobby or Kreacher follow her everywhere now. She’s very inventive when she wants to be. I caught her climbing the fence a couple days ago.”

Narcissa chose that moment to join them, but after eighteen months, everyone in the room was now more comfortable with Draco’s mother. They greeted her warmly. Marley squealed happily and ran over to hug her leg.

The doorbell rang again and Draco went to open the door for Snape, who was carrying an armful of gifts and was followed in by his current girlfriend, who Harry like a great deal more than the previous one. “You’ll spoil her rotten, Sev,” Harry heard Draco say with a laugh as he helped the older man carry the gifts into a side room before Marley could see them. Snape’s girlfriend didn’t resent Severus showering attention on Marley… and if his eyes didn’t deceive him, she had a present for the old Headmaster herself. 

She was just beginning to show.

“It’s my right as Godfather, Draco,” he told the young man with a serious face. Marley let out a screech of happiness when she heard his voice and launched herself at Snape, who swung her up easily. They all laughed at her antics before moving into the dining room for supper. 

Harry was happy.

He had a big family now… a family that would be getting bigger next year. 

He couldn’t wait to tell Draco…

_Finite_


End file.
